Battle Of The Bridesmaids

Lincs. UK Banner Exchange

8th August 2006

There is an old saying: always the bridesmaid but never the bride.

Two clubs who have recently been classed as the bridesmaids but never the brides met tonight at Edgar Street, as Lincoln City travel to Hereford United.

Both clubs have in recent seasons experienced the pain of being the almost-ran as both have regularly missed promotion via their respective play-offs. Lincoln City's fans will not need reminding that their club have failed for the past four seasons. Perhaps then, they should take note of Hereford United's story as inspiration.

For Hereford United have finished as Conference runners-up for the past three seasons. The perhaps unjust nature of promotion from the Conference means that just two teams are promoted, with the second promotion being gained via the play-off competition.

The 2003/04 season saw Hereford finish 17 points ahead of third place, as they finished as runners-up to Chester City by a mere point. That counted for nothing, as Shrewsbury Town held their nerve to win the play-off final, with Hereford having been eliminated in the semi-final by Aldershot.

Last season finally saw justice done, as Hereford managed to win the play-offs to claim their return to the Football League. It is doubtful whether a team ever deserved their chance quite as much as Hereford do.

With Hereford's recent past, they had been installed as one of the early favourites for promotion. However, events during the summer saw the majority of their Conference squad depart, to leave people wondering whether Hereford's return to the Football League will be short-lived.

Unfortunately, the more astute League Two expert knows that Lincoln City are in for a tough match this evening. Already, Hereford have more points than The Imps after defeating Stockport County via a 2-0 score line. Lincoln City's players should also know that they must play better as a team if they are to avoid becoming Hereford's second victims of the campaign.

Lincoln City's Head Coach John Schofield was likely to name the same line-up as per the Notts County match. This though might change as both Danny Bacon and Scott Kerr suffered injuries, which could force a significant reshuffle. Schofield has a number of options should one or both fail to be passed fit for tonight's match.

This two clubs first met on 9th September 1972, which was Hereford United's debut season in the Football League. The match took place at Sincil Bank, and Lincoln City ran out 4-1 winners; the return fixture ended as a 2-1 defeat for Lincoln. Overall, Lincoln have lost just four times to Hereford - all away fixtures - in the two clubs' twenty-eight league fixtures. Please click here for a full historical round-up of past results between these two clubs.

Odds for the match:

Hereford - 11/8
Draw - 2/1
Lincoln City - 15/8

Odds kindly supplied by Sporting Odds, who regularly offer free bets to customers. To ensure that you obtain the freshest offer, you will need to click this link and register immediately - so please return to this page first, if necessary.