Horror Show At Barnet

23rd March 2008

Lincoln have begun their Easter programme with a trip to London to face fellow relegation-strugglers Barnet. Quite frankly, the entire Imps' travelling faithful who had to endure the poor weather conditions probably wished they had stayed at home, as Lincoln put on a horror show.

The match ended as a 5-2 defeat but could so easily ended as a heavier defeat especially if substitute Ben Wright had not restored some pride with his two late goals.

Barnet opened the scoring in the 27th minute when Adam Birchall latched on to a long ball before putting the ball past Imps' goalkeeper Alan Marriott for 1-0. Ten minutes later, it became 2-0 when Lee Ridley brought down Albert Adomah inside the penalty area. Adomah picked himself up and scored the resultant penalty. Things then went from bad to worse as Imps' rightback Paul Green was forced to leave the field due to injury.

Birchall then turned provider when he released Anthony Thomas, who neatly scored. So at half-time, it was as good as game over for Lincoln, with the only question being: "How many would Barnet score?"

Within thirty seconds of the second half commencing, it became 4-0 to Barnet as Birchall scored a second when he capitalised on some poor defending.

Barnet goalkeeper Lee Harrison did make a decent save in the 55th minute when Mark Stallard had one of Lincoln's rare chances at goal. Barnet regained possession from a Lincoln throw-in and promptly counter-attacked to make it 5-0 when Adomah passed to Max Porter, who scored in the 62nd minute.

A 73rd minute saw Lincoln make a substitution when Wright replaced Stallard up front. This would prove the catalyst of a mini-Lincoln fightback as within three minutes of coming on, Wright had reduced the deficit when he converted Jamie Forrester's pass. Then in the 80th minute, it was 5-2 when Scott Kerr's throughball reached Wright, who beat Harrison.

On the injury front, apart from Green, there has been some news as Lenell John-Lewis has recovered quicker than expected from his recent injury, and indeed was able to play against Barnet. Also available, although not selected were Gary Croft and Ryan Amoo who have both recovered from their long-term injuries.

Meanwhile, Ollie Ryan has left Lincoln City by mutual consent. He has since signed for non-league Hucknall Town on non-contract terms until the end of the season. It is rumoured that Ryan could link up with his hometown club of Boston United for next season.

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