Nottingham Forest 3 Lincoln City 1

I caught “The Skipper” and Sticky junior in a compromising pose the other evening. I burst through the bedroom door to find those pair of soft lads swaying side to side and singing in unison to Leona Lewis’ new single, Bleeding Love (I googled it .. honest.) What a pair of pretty boys. No wonder they can’t get a decent tackle in for their local team at a weekend.

I wasn’t going to blog the replay, but hey, I might enjoy reading it one day. When all the pain has gone. It’s taken 50 years for these two teams to meet in a competitive game and yet we have met twice in the space of a few weeks. How ironic I have to sit with the Forest fans at both fixtures.

The Nuclear Scientist is driving; he’s brought The Landscape Gardener with him. “The Skipper” is given a late-night pass by Mrs P. His best mate is NS’s son. Sticky jnr has a prawn sandwich for supper, he’s watching Un***d on the box at The Theatre of Hate.

We park in Lady Bay, a good hike from the ground. It’s peaceful, they’ll be lucky to break the 7000 barrier. Why couldn’t the two clubs agree on a price reduction for tickets? NFFC and their disregard for public relations … tut tut.

We are ten rows from the back of The Brian Clough Stand. You would probably have to walk 20 yards to get a light. Lincoln City are my team. When the ball is bouncing around in our area my heart is in my mouth. It always skips a beat when our No.7 is on the ball.

Tonight we play in the white shirts and red shorts I saw them win in at Field Mill. It was to be another 15 games before we won again. It was a bitter sweet moment for me that the victory came against Notts County. We are still rock bottom. We have sacked a manager who knew his onions. A manager who was building for the future. Tonight we have seven players in our squad 21 or under. For the last hour of this game both are central defenders are just 18 years old.

CC has a fully fit squad to pick from. He is even afforded the luxury of shipping a couple out on loan. Emile Sinclair has gone to Brentford and Irishman Alan Power to Conference side Grays. I’m hoping Calderwood will be charitable and give £500,000 Megson misfit Scott Dobie a place in the starting line-up. It would be a huge lift for the City of Lincoln if this joker was to start. Forest would have to employ a man in a boat to fish all his misplaced efforts from out of the Trent.

I heard Calderwood, pre-match; champion our stylish midfielder Lee Frecklington. It would not surprise me to see our grand fromage move down the A46 permanently.

It’s all Forest, although Lincoln try to play a passing game. Forest carve out plenty of chances and we are riding our luck. They take the lead on 35 minutes with a brilliant goal from Commons following a one two with Cohen. I’m a happy man at the break. Damage limitation is the only thing on my mind.



Nottingham Forest FC take a further step up the incompetence Premier League ladder with the discovery that only one refreshment bar is open for the entire Upper Brian Clough. They’re getting nowt off me; I’ve already shelled out £23. The disc jockey plucks out a gem from nowhere. The Happy Mondays Kinky Affro is the second best tune I’ve heard at a game this season. The Nuneaton jock played Everything Will Be Alright by The Killers. The game is dead and buried early on when Tyson shakes off the attentions of Lincoln’s Watt to finish smartly. On the hour Tyson doubles his tally converting a Davies cross.

Lee Frecklington is magnificent in the second half. Why has no-one took this boy on? He clears countless corners with his head. He has the best touch of any player on the night. He’s got pace and is not frightened to receive the ball in tight areas. He produces a stunning save from Smith with a 25 yard left foot pile driver. I’m not a big fan of Smith. At Sincil Bank he chose not to sign autographs for the boys. They won’t be asking again. They’d sooner Dale Roberts put pen to paper. I howl at every blunder Smith makes. He can slice a ball and punch fresh air for a living. Southampton must be laughing their b***ocks off at the £500,000 they banked for him.

Yes it could have and should have been a cricket score. But we deserve our consolation goal from the industrious Jamie Forrester. Youngsters John-Lewis and Hone have impressed for Lincoln.

Forest 3 Tyson 2 Commons Lincoln 1 Forrester

Attendance: 6783 (2229 visitors who were largely subdued)

Man of the Match: Lincoln 7 Jacket