Imps face testing summer

Last updated : 29 May 2007 By Gary Moss

Final Position: 5

Top Goalscorer: Jamie Forrester (18)

Player of the Season: Lee Frecklington

Frecklington after being named in team of the season

The 21-year-old central midfielder has been a revelation for the Imps this season.

He has scored ten goals and created countless more becoming City's most influential first team member.

The Lincolnshire born middle man has a fantastic range of passing and when on the ball, he is always liable to make something happen.

Frecklington appeared no fewer than 44 times for Lincoln this year but struggled with injury towards the end of the season which ultimately cost the Imps their promotion.

The young gun was named in the PFA League Two team of the year and it is no surprise that he is being closely watched by a number of clubs believed to be as high as the Championship and even the Premiership.

He has been at the heart of all City's good football this season and is a fine representative of the youth academy at Sincil Bank.

Jamie Forrester and Mark Stallard also combined well to produce a formidable strike force. The two veteran front men have scored 34 league goals between them but it was not enough to take the player of the year award away from the youngster Frecklington who just oozes quality. He can do no wrong in the eyes of the City faithful.

Against Notts: Notts have produced two of their better displays of the season over the Red Imps this campaign.

The two sides met on the opening day of the season at Sincil Bank treating the crowd to an entertaining 1-1 draw.

Centre-back Aide Moses edged Lincoln in front after just ten minutes as County failed to defend a looping Imps set piece.

City were well worth their lead at the break but the Magpies came out fighting to dominate the second period. Jeff Hughes put threw his own net to draw Notts level but it was no less than the black and whites deserved.

In the return game at Meadow Lane, County really turned on the style producing one of their finest displays of the season.

Midfielder Jay Smith hit a cracking long range strike inside the opening minutes to put Notts ahead.

Notts continued to boss the first half but on the stroke of half-time the pendulum really did swing County's way. Jason Lee made it 2-0 and Imps forward Jamie Forrester saw straight red as City faced a mountain to climb after the break.

As Lincoln pushed for a way back into the game, Lawrie Dudfield scored a third just after the hour to put the Magpies home and dry.

Ex-Forest man Spencer Weir-Daley grabbed a late consolation for City but it was to tale little shone off an afternoon that belonged to the black and white side of the Trent.

Defining Moment: After a 2-1 defeat in the first play-off leg at the Memorial Ground, Lincoln still had every chance of progressing to a place in the final at the new Wembley.

Schofield... his team ran out of steam
Having beaten the Pirates at Sincil Bank once already this season, progression was not out of the question.

But, one thing was for sure, that they needed to keep it tight early doors.

Unfortunately, they couldn't have begun any worse as they conceded two sloppy goals inside the first eleven minutes. Richard Walker and Rickie Lambert both netted in the opening stages to leave the Imps with a mountain to climb as they trailed the tie by three goals.

From this point onwards, Schofield's men were always chasing and despite scoring their three they leaked yet more as Rovers ran out 5-3 winners in the second leg alone.

Poor defending at Sincil Bank cost them dearly early on and ultimately cost them a play-off dream once more.

Highlight: City couldn't have been any quicker out of the starting blocks this season.

By the end of October, the Imps were top of League Two and the play-off's couldn't have been any further from their thoughts.

After a 5-0 thumping away at Barnet, a 7-1 hammering over Rochdale at Sincil Bank and a slender 1-0 victory at Swindon, City sat pretty at the top of the division.

Lincoln were playing some scintillating stuff. No-one could stop them.

Eyes were on the title.

Schofield was having a perfect start to his managerial career but more testing times were to lie ahead.

Lowlight: Lincoln's form of 2007 never ever matched that of before Christmas.

Their buzz and their spark had disappeared so much so that they could only muster another five league wins after the turn of the year.

Defeats to the likes of Wrexham, Macclesfield, Mansfield and Hereford proved their decline.

Their patchy stop-start form was to cost them dearly as they slumped to fifth in the league and were to endure yet another season of play-off agony.

In the end, they just did enough to keep afloat with a final day win over Chester maintaining their play-off status, but they were soon found out on the biggest stage.

The Mad Verdict: In their first season in charge management duo John Schofield and John Deehan have transformed the face of football at Sincil Bank.

Forrester...no spring chicken

Former boss Keith Alexander made the Imps renowned for their route one football even though it was fairly effective.

But under Schofield, City have quickly built a reputation of playing the ball on the deck in an entertaining fashion.

It doesn't matter because once again it led to the same outcome- defeat in the play-off's. Lincoln have missed out in the final stages five years on the trot now- when will it ever end?

The Imps started the campaign brightly chasing an automatic promotion spot around the Christmas period but after recording just five victories in 2007, they were left to face the lottery once again.

Bristol Rovers, the form side of the league's top seven convincingly beat them over the two legged semi-final and it's back to square one for the gaffer.

Lincoln played some good stuff this season but it is results that matter and in the end they weren't quite good enough. When will this club step up to the plate at the business end of the season?

Fans will be frustrated and however much Schofield claims this season to have been a success, it is still one of failure.

What's Next? Well, the betting man would say play-off failure again but City may have missed the boat altogether.

The division is expected to be a lot more competitive next season and will the Imps do enough over the summer to maintain their place as one of the divisions main players.

They have been boosted recently by Nat Brown, Lee Beevers and Scott Kerr signing new deals but the question remains- Can they keep hold of Frecklington.

That would be an achievement in itself but that aside they will still have to strengthen to make it sixth time lucky.

For all their goals, striker Forrester and Stallard are no spring chickens and defensively they definitely have problems.

Former captain Paul Morgan is almost certain to leave whilst old centre-backs Jamie McCombe and Gareth McAuley have still not been replaced.

Next season begins an even bigger test for Schofield as pressure mounts to lift the club out of League Two.

They have got the makings of a good side but they will need to strengthen to reach their potential.