IMPS V CARLISLE UNITED REPORT
Saturday 4th March 2000 - Nationwide League Division 3
From Sincil Bank

Lincoln City 5 - 0 Carlisle United

SUPER LINCOLN ARE MAJESTIC AND FOXES ARE ATROCIOUS!

By James Prentice from Sincil Bank Stadium

There were two separate pieces of evidence to prove that today just was not Carlisle United's day. Firstly, an Imps defender tried desperately to knock the ball out for a corner in a scarce display of pressure from the Cumbrians. The spherical object was going out for the said corner, but it somehow hit the corner flag and bounced out to be taken up field by an Imps midfielder. Secondly, at the match's close, a United forward bore down on Alan Marriott in the City goal, only for the referee to blow for time just before he shot - I told you it hadn't been their day!

The one big surprise of the day was Steve Holmes's inclusion in the line-up. It was Holmes's first start since May, and he has since undergone life-saving operations on a slipped disc in his neck. He took a rapturous applause from the Imps' faithful congregated in the Simons stand, the people who have supported him through thick and thin during his time on the sidelines. Holmes replaced Grant Brown - out with a side strain - in defence alongside Jason Barnett and Steve Welsh in the 3-5-2 formation, but that was the only change to the team that drew at Macclesfield last week.

Holmes had a return to the team that all footballers dream of having when he glanced home Terry Fleming's long box-bound throw in the game's first minute, and the look on the ginger-haired player's face after that was most pleasing to all.

Carlisle's tepid beginning to the match looked to have handed the three points to the Imps even that early in the game when Lee Thorpe and Richard Peacock combined to make the score 2-0. A huge gap in the visitors' defence allowed the latter to slot a shot past 6ft 4in 'keeper Van der Kwaak in the Cumbrians' goal.

The Imps played, until the break, at a placid pace and the only real event in the first half was when Peacock's seemingly mendacious foul on a Cumbrians forward yielded no penalty from referee Bates.

But any apathy was fully compensated for when the Imps ran the show in an all-action second half and fully killed the game off.

On 49 minutes, Steve Holmes put a John Beck-style ball over the top of the Cumbrians' defence for Gavin Gordon. Gordon shrugged off the attentions on former Aston Villa defender Shaun Teale, steadied his body, and coolly shot past the 'keeper.

The euphoric supporters were sent even further into ecstasy six minutes later. Carlisle finally managed to clear the ball after it had bobbled around in their area, and the ball was claimed by Richard Peacock on the edge of the area, who had ample time to prepare for a blockbuster which burst the net.

The game settled down when four goals had been scored, although City found time to add a fifth - Peacock swung in a corner and Gordon rose to bundle in his second of the match and 11th of the season.

The Imps will not, however, play teams of Carlisle's stature every week, though. Their next two games, against Mansfield Town and Peterborough United, will be much harder but vital points-wise besides being local derbies.

Nevertheless, it was an astute performance from the Imps, and the arrival back to fitness of Steve Holmes and the form of Richard Peacock will surely cut out any underlying complacency in the ranks with competition for places being high.

MATCH STATS
	LINCOLN CITY		V	CARLISLE UNITED
STARTING LINE-UP
	Alan Marriott Jason Barnett Steve Holmes Steve Welsh Richard Peacock Terry Fleming Paul Miller Peter Gain Paul Mayo Gavin Gordon Lee Thorpe			Peter Van der Kwaak Matthew Pitts Shaun Teale Paul Reid Peter Clark Scott Dobie Tony Hopper Rob McKinnon John Durnin David Brightwell Steve Halliday
SUBSTUTIONS
	Barry Richardson Anthony Henry (for Steve Holmes 61) Stuart Bimson (for Terry Fleming 75) Lee Philpott Tony Battersby			Richard Tracey (for D Brightwell 74) Richard Prokas Graham Anthony (for John Durnin 74) Damon Searle Rob Bowman
GOALS
	Steve Holmes (1) Richard Peacock (6, 55) Gavin Gordon (49, 81)
BOOKINGS
	RED	YELLOW		RED	YELLOW
					Tony Hopper (foul) Rob McKinnon (foul)
IMPS ONLINE MAN OF THE MATCH
	PAUL MAYO was, and has been in the last month since his début last month, a total revelation on the left wing. He, along with Richard Peacock on the other right wing, was superb, displaying marvellous pace and tact throughout. Without a doubt a red-hot prospect for the future!

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