What now for the Imps

Yesterday Lincoln City were condemned to the trap door of English football, they were expelled to the Blue Square Bet Premier League, or as we football purists like to call it, the Conference.

So what no for Lincoln City after their second removal from the football league in 24 years? Well, it can hardly be said that there will be a mass exodus of players from Sincil Bank after the relegation, as there really is very little quality among them.

The only players you could argue have an immediate future in league football are Captain Delroy Facey, whose injury sparked the Imps’ awful run of form. Centre back Danny Hone is only young and probably could play for the Northampton’s or Barnet’s of League 2. Apart from them and the loan star Ashley Grimes who will be returning to Milwall, there really are no players who can argue that they are league 2 quality.

So what went wrong yesterday at Sincil Bank? Well the first mistake was that of Steve Tilson’s, he set up in a defensive 4-5-1 formation with Ashley Grimes as a lone striker. Grimes cut a frustrated figure as he struggled against Aldershot’s strong back line, it was obvious that he needed a strike partner to hold the ball up and provide flick ons, sadly his partner who had seen Grime’s and Lincoln through their best run of form Delroy Facey was still injured.

So maybe it wasn’t Steve Tilson’s fault, he has almost been forced into playing Grimes alone up top, due to the lack of effective options up front. Celtic loanee Ben Hutchinson has proved ineffective in his season on loan here and in my opinion was rightly chosen to warm the bench. Drewe Broughton was another option; with his height and power surely he would be the perfect partner? Anybody who believes this needs to be walked out of Sincil Bank and given a long lesson in good football. Yes, Broughton is tall, but this doesn’t automatically mean he will win it in the air. If anybody has watched the journeyman striker this season you would have seen that he was dreadful and most definitely not the solution.

Tilson’s decision to play for the draw with a 4-5-1 proved the wrong one though as Barnet scored a penalty as the first half kicked off. So surely when he heard this news he would have had to go for broke, 1-0 at Underhill meant the Imps had to win to survive, so why not go for broke. Take of Fuseni who had been ineffective and bring on SOMEONE! It wasn’t to be though, and as the crowd support dwindled after the news from Underhill so did the Imps performance, they shipped 3 goals and left relegated, defeated and utterly deflated.

The atmosphere at Sincil Bank was morbid afterwards, it was the atmosphere of a feeling of a proud football club with a good support, who on the 7^th May 2011 took a big step towards not existing at all in the football league ever again.

For those of you who aren’t familiar to what Ultimate Frisbee is here is a brief overview of the rules of Ultimate.

1. The Field -- A rectangular shape with endzones at each end. A regulation field is 70 yards by 40 yards, with endzones 25 yards deep.
2. Initiate Play -- Each point begins with both teams lining up on the front of their respective endzone line. The defense throws ("pulls") the disc to the offense. A regulation game has seven players per team.
3. Scoring -- Each time the offense completes a pass in the defense's endzone, the offense scores a point. Play is initiated after each score.
4. Movement of the Disc -- The disc may be advanced in any direction by completing a pass to a teammate. Players may not run with the disc. The person with the disc ("thrower") has ten seconds to throw the disc. The defender guarding the thrower ("marker") counts out the stall count.
5. Change of possession -- When a pass in not completed (e.g. out of bounds, drop, block, interception), the defense immediately takes possession of the disc and becomes the offense.
6. Substitutions -- Players not in the game may replace players in the game after a score and during an injury timeout.
7. Non-contact -- No physical contact is allowed between players. Picks and screens are also prohibited. A foul occurs when contact is made.
8. Fouls -- When a player initiates contact on another player a foul occurs. When a foul disrupts possession, the play resumes as if the possession was retained. If the player committing the foul disagrees with the foul call, the play is redone.
9. Self-Refereeing -- Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls. Players resolve their own disputes.
10. Spirit of the Game -- Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.