Last Home game of the Year and possibly League 2?

By Nathan Jackson
May 16 2007

Lincoln City could be playing their last home game in League 2 for at least a year on Thursday night, but they will have to get past Bristol Rovers to have a chance of that happening. The Gas lead 2-1 from the first leg thanks to a defensive lapse, but there is still a high chance City will progress against a Bristol Rovers side that have a terrible record at Sincil Bank in recent years.

It's do or die for City. Our season will either end on Thursday night at around 9:30pm or 10:15pm (depending on if extra time is played), or it could end by going to the brand new Wembley Stadium on the back of being the first club to lose the first leg and progress to the final in the 4th tier since Leyton Orient beat Hull on aggregate in 2000/1.

There was little to seperate the Imps and Rovers on Saturday afternoon, with only a defensive error preventing the Imps from coming back from the Memorial Stadium with at least a draw. Despite losing, the mission was to go to Bristol Rovers and still be in the tie and not only are we still in it, we're the favourites with a lot of people to progress despite having a 2-1 deficit to overcome.

We've soon some incredible things at Sincil Bank this season. We destroyed Rochdale, we confidently beat Hartlepool, came within a whisker of beating Walsall, achieved a double over Peterborough and even Adie Moses scored. However, that will all mean absolutely nothing if we don't beat Bristol Rovers on Thursday night.

Earlier in the season I described the home game against Bristol Rovers as a game that wasn't quite a must win, but it was definitely a must not lose. Now we have no choice, this is a must win game. We absolutely destroyed them in December, a game that we could have easily won by another 5-0 scoreline, Bristol Rovers not even having a shot on target until the very tame effort from Lambert in added on time.

This game will be very tactical from the Imps. Do we go all out attack from the beginning and risk being hit on the counter attack, or do we play patiently and wait for the opportunity. In the previous 4 seasons, we've used the all-out-attack tactic in each of the second legs and subsequently scored the first goal of the game each time.

I personally think that a mix between the two will be the key to unlocking Bristol Rovers. It was that tactic that saw us get behind their defence umpteen times on Saturday evening, their defence often looking out of place and completely unprepared for anything with goalkeeper Steve Phillips being the main culprit, dropping several cross and delaying coming out for through balls quickly enough.

Now for the team, it is highly likely that the 4-4-2 system will be implented again, with Marriott sat behind Green, Morgan, Brown and Eaden in the defence. Kerr and Frecklington will more than likely be the central midfield partnership, whereas Beevers and Hughes will play either side of them, with the latter hoping to replicate his impressive performance against Rovers the other day. Forrester and Stallard will more than likely be the two starting strikers.

As for Bristol Rovers, it will be surprising if Paul Tropple hasn't given his defence a bollocking after the Imps broke through several times last Saturday. With that it is widely expected that they will play with more defensive players than attacking players, despite what their players and staff have said all week.

Rovers haven't won at Sincil Bank since the 2001/2 season, the same season that saw City's last victory at the Memorial Stadium. Since then they've lost 4 of the 5 meetings, repeats of the 1-0 and 2-1 scorelines would see the tie go to extra time, whereas a repeat of 2003/4's 3-1 victory would see the Imps go through.