Missing Lincs

This was a game of missed chances with Andy Scott, Phil Gray and Chris Hackett all guilty of spurning decent scoring opportunities. Luckily it didn't matter in the end, but it so nearly did. Gray put United ahead in the 19th minute, following some good work by Dave Morley on the right wing, and two minutes later Scott doubled the lead from the penalty spot after Dean Whitehead was brought down. Scott was then brought down himself but was only rewarded with a throw-in. In the second half Lee Thorpe brought Lincoln back into the game after 66 minutes. There was an exciting finale as an Imps free kick looked to have been turned over the line, but it was the final whistle that was blown and no goal was given.

Ian Atkins made two changes from the Scunthorpe starting line-up. Scott was preferred up front instead of Manny Omoyinmi and Sam Stockley was dropped with Chris Hackett playing on the right wing. Three minutes after half-time an injury forced skipper Andy Crosby from the field, with Sam Ricketts coming on into the right back position and Morley going into the centre of defence and Dave Savage given the captain's armband. Gray was replaced by Rob Quinn with twelve minutes left, with Hackett joining Scott up front and Savage going wide on the right.

Referee Clive Penton, who also took charge of United's game at Luton, wasn't too brilliant, missing blatant penalty shouts for both sides and a few other interesting challenges. He did see fit to book Quinn for a ridiculous challege that led to the free kick that didn't lead to a Lincoln equaliser. The attendance was 6,596, the highest in the division today, boosted by the kids for a quid which prevented it from being the season's lowest crowd. A match report can be found here.

United moved up one place as a result of this victory, going back above Bristol Rovers who lost 1-0 at Macclesfield. Bottom side Halifax lost 2-0 at home to leaders Plymouth, whilst Luton went down 3-2 at home to Scunthorpe. What a shame. United are now twelve points above Halifax so we can all relax for a week. Second bottom Torquay drew 1-1 at home to Hull. United's next opponents, Exeter City, went down 1-0 at Carlisle. Mansfield beat Darlington 4-2 to move into second place.

Former United players to find the net include Phil Whelan, who hit a consolation goal for Southend who went down 3-2 at Swansea last night and Lee Nogan who scored York's goal in their 1-0 win over Hartlepool. Paul Wanless scored Cambridge's first in their 2-2 draw at Bury in the Second Divison, whilst in the Conference Mark Stein scored Dagenham's last goal in their 3-3 draw at Yeovil to send them top of the league.