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Grimsby
K.O. Imps
Grimsby Town 2 Lincoln City 1
17th May 2006
Lincoln City FC were condemned to yet another season in
League Two after losing 2-1 at Grimsby Town on Tuesday
evening. Overall, this result combines with a 1-0 Grimsby
Town victory from the first leg to give Grimsby a 3-1
aggregate win.
As predicted, Imps' boss Keith Alexander made just one
change to the side that lost 1-0 in last Saturday's first
leg. Striker Franny Green was dropped to the substitutes'
bench in favour of Simon Yeo.
This was an entertaining match from the kick-off although
neither side actually created any real chances for some
considerable time. Soon after Grimsby had cleared an 8th
minute Lincoln corner, they were on the attack. Tom Newey
provided the cross for Gary Jones to head wide.
Two minutes later, Grimsby came within an inch of scoring
when Gary Jones just missed connecting with Curtis
Woodhouse's volley. Had the ball not bobbled then Jones
would have headed it into the net.
Jamie McCombe became the first player to receive a
caution, when he was booked in the 18th minute for
kicking the ball away after he had conceded a free-kick.
A long ball forward in the 20th minute saw Grimsby's Rob
Jones clash heads with Marvin Robinson. Both players
required treatment with Rob Jones forced to leave the
field to receive stitches to a facial wound.
Lincoln managed to take advantage of their numerical
advantage when they won a free-kick in the 25th minute.
Gary Cohen was the guilty man, as he ran into Robinson,
although the free-kick award might have been influenced
by the referee getting in the away of Robinson's pass.
The resultant free-kick was flighted into the area by
Scott Kerr, where Robinson headed downwards. The ball
spun into the far corner of the net to give Lincoln a 1-0
lead.
Grimsby immediately made a substitution by replacing Rob
Jones with Ben Futcher. Lincoln clearly believed that
they could turn this tie around, and a minute later,
Robinson was unlucky to see his shot blocked by Justin
Whittle.
Next, Grimsby won their first corner of the match, which
lead to them seeing several shots blocked by Imps'
players. A poor tackle in the 36th minute by Jeff Hughes
saw the Northern Ireland Under-21 left-back receive a
yellow card.
There was no disputing Hughes' caution but two minutes
later, there was a moment of controversy. Yeo, who was
inside the Grimsby penalty area, clearly pushed the ball
beyond Futcher. As he did so, Futcher caught him but the
referee ruled that Yeo had dived. Not only were Lincoln
denied a penalty, but Yeo was cautioned for diving.
Yeo almost doubled Lincoln's lead in the 39th minute but
Grimsby's goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall made a fine save.
Lincoln quickly regained possession to win a corner. The
ball eventually came to Nat Brown, whose shot from
outside the penalty area went high over the crossbar.
As half-time approached, Lincoln were denied another
clear-cut penalty when Futcher blocked Robinson inside
the penalty area. At the other end, Junior Mendes'
swerving volley was well caught by Alan Marriott, who had
to quickly adjust his body position otherwise Mendes
would have scored.
The half-time whistle sounded within seconds of Yeo
creating a shot from nothing that curled around the post.
Just before, Gary Croft had been booked for a foul on
Robinson.
There were no changes to either side at the commencement
of the second half. However, Rob Jones had spent the
entire half-time interval sat alone in the Grimsby
dugout, clearly unhappy at his substitution.
Both sides began the second half unable to break down the
other's defence. One rare chance saw former Imp Futcher
head Newey's free-kick on to the roof of the net.
The turning point of the game occurred in the 58th minute
when Lincoln won a corner. The ball reached Yeo, whose
curling shot was cleared off the goal line by Croft.
Ominously, Grimsby then replaced Cohen for star striker
Michael Reddy.
A minute afterwards, Grimsby had levelled after they had
won a corner. The corner was played short to Newey, whose
cross was played back across goal. Standing in the midst
of five Lincoln players was Futcher, who
flicked the ball into the net for 1-1. A poor goal to
concede.
Lincoln came close to a quick reply when Yeo saw his 62nd
minute shot tipped around the post by Mildenhall. From
that moment onwards, Lincoln struggled against a resolute
Grimsby Town defence.
Whittle joined the growing list of names in the referee's
notebook when he was cautioned for a 66th minute foul on
Robinson.
A 69th minute foul provided Lincoln with the chance to
attempt a different style of free-kick. This one saw Kerr
pass towards Hughes, who dummied, which allowed Brown to
power a shot at goal. Unfortunately, the ball went just a
few feet over a surprised Mildenhall and into the crowd.
Lee Beevers, who had suffered an injury during the second
half, was replaced by Franny Green in the 72nd minute.
Three minutes later, Lee Frecklington came on for Kerr,
as Lincoln started to push more men forward. Grimsby also
opted to change tactics by replacing Mendes with
midfielder Ciaran Toner.
Lincoln were starting to gamble and chase every ball. In
doing so, Yeo conceded an 80th minute free-kick.
Woodhouse delivered the ball towards the far post but en
route, Gary Jones rose above two Lincoln
players to flick a header past Marriott for 2-1 to
Grimsby.
The tie was as good as over but things might have been
different had Mildenhall not saved Robinson's header from
a 83rd minute Yeo cross.
Woodhouse was left fuming in the 85th minute by a poor
tackle by Frecklington. Woodhouse had to be restrained by
Futcher, although he quickly calmed when the referee
cautioned Frecklington. There was also a yellow card for
Green, presumably for dissent.
As if things could not get any worse, they did when
McCombe was forced to leave the pitch to be replaced by
Paul Mayo. This was the outcome of McCombe clashing heads
with Futcher in the 81st minute.
The final minutes saw a few speculative shots from
Lincoln but none were anywhere near on target. Sadly,
from Grimsby's point of view, their evening was marred in
stoppage time when Gary Jones was sent-off for catching
Gareth McAuley with an elbow.
So there we go; Lincoln have become the first team ever
to appear in four consecutive play-offs yet not achieve
promotion. Another season of League Two football now
awaits the supporters and the majority of the players.
Grimsby: S Mildenhall, G Croft, J Whittle, R Jones
(28 B Futcher), T Newey, G Cohen (59 M Reddy), P Bolland,
C Woodhouse, A Parkinson, G Jones, J Mendes (76 C Toner)
Unused subs: M Goodfellow, J Kamudimba
Lincoln
City: A
Marriott, G McAuley, P Morgan, J McCombe (86 P Mayo), L
Beevers (74 F Green), S Kerr (77 L Frecklington), N
Brown, J Hughes, J Forrester, M Robinson, S Yeo
Unused subs: G Birch, C Cryan
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