Seagulls flying high and the Imps are in devilish form as the build up to the big match continues

The next match on the Road to Wembley from Scotland is Lincoln City v Brighton and Hove Albion next Saturday. On Friday night both the protagonists continued their build up to the big match with important league fixtures. The Seagulls entertained Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship and the Imps played host to Dover Athletic in the Vanarama National League. With both matches shown live on TV I was able to watch the action unfold from the comfort of my armchair.

The Brighton v Wednesday match had more twists and turns than a botched up pasta dish. A first half goal from Brighton’s Knockaert seemed to put the home side at ease but underdogs Wednesday equalised on the stroke of half time with a goal that looked more like a Keystone Cops routine than a piece of football action. The Owls Forristieri’s left wing harmless cross was deflected not once but twice by hapless Brighton defenders past their own goalkeeper. The guilty Seagulls were Norwood and Dunk. Midway through the second half the visitors had a gilt edged opportunity to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Brighton’s Murray handled the ball in his own box, hence gave away a penalty and was sent off. A chance for the Owls to go 2-1 ahead and play out the rest of the game with 11 v 10. A chance spurned as Forristieri’s pathetic penalty was easily saved by the Brighton custodian Stockdale. Brighton took off their only Scotsman, Jamie Murphy, and began to take control of the game despite their numerical disadvantage. With five minutes to go the lively Knockhaert scored again.

Brighton's Knockhaert scores the winner from close range on Friday night

A Scot was to have a late impact on proceedings when the Owl’s substitute Steven Fletcher got himself sent off for a petulant clash with Brighton's Dale Stephens in the final minute. Not very clever when you are chasing the game with an extra man. Wednesday actually finished the game with 9 men when Hutchinson was shown a second yellow card in stoppage time as the men from Sheffield finished the match in disarray. The Seagulls continue to fly high in the Championship and are now looking well set to gain promotion to the promised land of the English Premier Division at the end of the season.

Meanwhile in Lincolnshire the Imps entertained the Whites, playing in blue, from Dover. An incredible 6497 fans turned up at Sincil Bank to see the FA Cup heroes return to league action.

No quarter asked or given: The Imps do battle with Dover on Friday night

Like Brighton, Lincoln City have declared that promotion is their top priority and that the Cup is a pleasant diversion. You can fool some of the people some of the time but the Lincoln public have their own take on things and their focus is firmly on the FA Cup. The crowd on Friday was so big because the club were handing each attendee a priority voucher to secure a ticket for the match against Brighton. The Brighton match is already a guaranteed sell out and it will be my first full house on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. The Imps did not disappoint the bumper crowd and ran out 2-0 winners. The early nerves were settled when the visitors gifted them an own goal in the first ten minutes and the deal was sealed when the talented Hawkridge doubled their advantage with a fine strike from the edge of the area with 7 minutes to go. In between times Dover went close a few times and in truth the Imps play did not reach the intoxicating quality displayed in their famous victory against Ipswich 3 days earlier.

Choo choo! The Imps play trains in their esoteric set piece routine

 There are no Scots currently playing for Lincoln City but as was reported in the previous post the Imps do have a rich Scots heritage. In addition to the Scots Imps featured on Friday, I have been advised by the Lincoln City facebookers that Jocks Gordon Mair and Ian McInnes also served the Imps with distinction and that the Imps were managed by George Kerr from Dunbartonshire. More about these Scots links in midweek as the build up to the big match continues. I have also been advised by Imps fan Jamie Burnett that his Scots grandfather Alfred Price Burnett played for Lincoln City. Watch this space for more. The facebook feed also reveals that there are many Scots living in Lincolnshire who have adopted the Imps as their team. I am hoping to meet the Lincoln City branch of the Tartan Army featuring Colin and Duncan Campbell and Sue and Archie Brown at the match next week.

The other feature in the previous post was a nostalgic glance back to my days playing alongside the late John Hale for the truly awful football team the Boston College Staff FC. Since the post was published Kevin Oliver has reminded me by email of a surreal incident from those less than halcyon days involving me and John. Kevin wrote to me as follows: “.. once when playing centre forward John stuck out his arm out and stopped the ball with his hand in the middle of the pitch seemingly, for no particular reason. When you said to him "What did you do that for?" his reply was "Nobody shouted", to which your reply was "What were we supposed to shout...don't handle the ball John?”

John Hale in goal on this occasion in a 9 man College staff team with a youthful blogger back right

On Tuesday night the Seagulls and the Owls both have important league matters to attend to before they fully focus on the Big One next Saturday. The Imps travel to Barrow while the Seagulls host Cardiff. Will they both continue their good form in advance of the FA Cup tie? Will any of their outfield players handle the ball in the middle of the pitch for no apparent reason.? Return here in midweek to find out and keep reading …