RHEAD AND ROBINSON ROCK THE LATICS

Finding 40p was a bit of a shock, for the Toll Bridge over the River Trent, I ventured towards Lincoln late yesterday evening. On my return later that night there were still two collectors manning the toll, gathering enough money, I presume, to pay their wages. It seemed quiet and foggy!

Prior to the game I had time to view the Cathedral from afar (if I had known I could have got a free pass from a friend to enter it and enjoy the castle too). I had time to visit this hostelry in the High street, a place I must recommend.

Some more "Lincoln men" earning their wages last night were the fabulous footballers of The Imps, Lincoln City's football club, who played Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup 2nd Round proper, winning 3-2. Lincoln were the "status" underdogs being only a National League team and Oldham were the "seniors" coming from the Football League First Division proper. What a game.

The Imps went 3-0 up, Oldham regrouped in the second half and scored two with a nail biting final period which saw the Imps hold on. They went into the hat for the 3rd Round draw before the game anyway, so they knew they were playing this tie for the honour of visiting Ipswich in the next round. It is the stuff Cups are made of.

The whole visit was a very good experience, finding Sincil Bank, midst the terraced houses and rush hour traffic, I visited Lincoln City FC for the first time and enjoyed a well maintained ground and surrounding astros.
Lavs, food huts, stewards, seats, scoreboards and all the rest of the stadium paraphenalia was in good order; the programme was excellent and full of stuff for me to regurgitate.

Back to the game. The hero was Stoke born, Matt Rhead, a much travelled forward, who at 32, carried his weight around the pitch and caused the Oldham defence much trouble. With 50 Lincoln games under his belt he has scored 29 goals for his National League team. He won most headers, played in cheeky passes and fed the younger Theo Robinson, who was slimmer and faster than his supplier and who notched two goals.

Robinson at 27 is a Jamaican international, born in Birmingham. Theo has travelled even further than Matt is his ten year campaign, playing at Huddersfield, Derby, Motherwell, Millwall, Scunthorpe and so on and so on. He got into football through an "Exit Trial" arranged by the FA, a sort of auction for players jettisoned by professional clubs. It worked.

As a pair, the Imps were devestating until the wheels started to drop off through tireness towards the end of the game.

But Rhead clearly was the hero, loved by the crowd, especially by my very pleasant seat neighbour who told me before the match started that he was going to be noisy and as soon as the game started HE WAS.....very noisy but charming. With his young son, they were both devoted to Lincoln City and travel far to places like Forest Green and Dover to follow their team.

The IMPS hung on and live to enjoy another day in the fantastic Emirates FA Cup. The incentive is for a 3rd Round win £67500. They have already benefitted from wins in Round 1 (£18,000) Round 2 (£27000). There is also TV money, increased revenue with success, sponsorship etc etc. Good on them.

This made me fell much better.