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Rayner
Returns
27th April 2006
Lincoln City's reserve goalkeeper Simon Rayner has
returned from his loan spell at Conference North club
Alfreton Town.
Rayner originally joined Alfreton in mid-January when
they were languishing near the bottom of their division
and were deep in relegation trouble. Every month since
has seen Alfreton renew Rayner's loan as the 6 foot 4
inch goalkeeper helped them move towards safety.
Last Saturday saw Rayner's final match for Alfreton,
which ended as a 2-0 defeat at Workington. The result did
not matter too greatly because Alfreton had already
ensured their division status against the odds and with
fixtures to spare.
Sadly for Rayner, who made 20 appearances and was ever
present during his successful loan spell at Alfreton, the
Workington match was not a happy experience. A defensive
mix up saw him take the blame for Workington's second
goal, which was apportioned by a shove in the chest from
team-mate Lee Featherstone!
Rayner will now hope to sufficiently impress Imps' boss
Keith Alexander into offering him a new contract, as his
current contract expires in June.
Rayner, who is 22 years old, joined Lincoln in July 2004
on a free transfer from Port Talbot of the Welsh League.
Unfortunately, the superb and consistent form of Imps'
goalkeeper Alan Marriott has meant that Rayner has been
restricted to a handful of appearances for The Imps.
Lincoln beat off strong competition for Rayner's
signature, including Swansea City where was on trial
before linking up with Lincoln. In April 2004, Newcastle
United gave him a trial, while Millwall were also linked
to him.
Rayner has represented Canada at youth, Under-20 and
Under-21 levels, and is highly-rated in both Canada and
England.
Rayner spent nearly two years between August 2000 and
February 2002 as a trainee at Bournemouth. He left
Bournemouth to sign for Welsh League club Barry Town,
where he played in Europe. He made 31 appearances for
Port Talbot during the 2004/05 season, as well as helping
Canada qualify for the FIFA World Youth Championship and
taking part in Canada's Men's World U-23 Olympic Team's
qualifying matches for this year's Olympics.
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