Football – England – Conference Premier
Tuesday 9th September 2014 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
After a bright start where they won three of their first four matches of the new Conference Premier season, Lincoln City suddenly find themselves in the bottom half of the division following three straight defeats on the trot.
The Imps secured wins over Altrincham, Barnet and Braintree Town along with earning a point against Kidderminster in a 0-0 draw to ensure an unbeaten start to the new campaign for Gary Simpson’s boys. However, three straight defeats have followed with losses against FC Halifax 2-3 away, 1-3 at home to Torquay United and Saturday’s 1-3 loss at Woking.
But the one remaining factor regardless of the results for Lincoln City is their ability to score goals – in fact, they’ve scored in 11 of their last 12 matches in the Conference and with attacking personnel such as Bencherif, Burrow and Tomlinson who have all hit 3 goals apiece so far, they look likely to score again here tonight.
Visitors Grimsby Town have made a solid start to their new campaign as they currently sit in 8th place after suffering just one defeat from their first seven matches in the new Conference season. This is in no small part due to their goalscoring prowess as The Mariners have thumped Gateshead 6-1 away (no easy feat) and trashed poor Alfreton Town 7-0 at Blundell Park just a few days later.
Grimsby took their first three matches however to get going as they started the season with back-to-back 0-0 draws against Bristol Rovers and Nuneaton Town along with a 1-1 draw with Dover Athletic.
But they then hit 13 goals in two matches before suffering their first defeat of the season away at Aldershot Town 1-2. Grimsby bounced back quickly with Saturday’s 2-0 home win over Welling United, and they stand a good chance of walking away with something at Sincil Bank here tonight.
Midfielder Neilson (4 goals) is Grimsby’s leading goalscorer, but Pittman and Hannah scored in the weekend win so they are capable of providing goals from different players within the team.
Lincoln’s regularity of goalscoring along with Grimsby’s ability to make a mess of things leads me to believe that both teams will register on the scoresheet again tonight in what could be a 2-2 draw.
Pick: Both teams to score – Yes @ 1.80 bet365
