Macclesfield match comes with sense of deja vu

By Nathan Jackons
February 17 2006

Lincoln will go into Saturday's game at Macclesfield aiming to make it 5 wins in a row for the first time in 14 years. City have shot up the table in recent weeks thanks to just 1 defeat in 15 but face a tricky task at Macclesfield who themselves have only lost 2 in 18.

There's an ultimate sense of deja vu about the weekend trip to Macclesfield. The Imps travel to Moss Rose on the back of a 4 game winning run hoping to extend it to 5 for the first time in 14 years and this situations is one that happened as recently as last season. City have won the previous 4 league games before making the trip to Moss Rose and the Imps were beaten 2-1.

There's no doubt that City's results have improved recently, but the fact we've been playing some incredibly poor sides is one of the main reasons we've won 4 games in a row. The draw with Macclesfield in December extended the Imps unbeaten run to 2, a run that has stretched to just 1 defeat in 15, Macclesfield however, haven't progressed nearly half as much as the Imps and despite being 6 points off the relegation zone, they seriously need to start picking up some results soon or risk relegation back to the conference.

The main debating point will be who will start up front. Gary Birch has started to find his goalscoring boots just as Simon Yeo appears to have lost his (again). Martin Gritton, despite scoring in his first game hasn't impressed a lot of fans and the lack of match fitness excuse will soon be out of the window. Other than the starting attackers, it should be the usual side.

Who I think will start (Right to left)

Marriott

Cyran    McAuley   McCombe   Hughes

Brown  S/Robinson  Kerr

Green   Gritton   Yeo

 

Jon Parkin clearly made a massive difference to Macclesfield, without him this season, they looked almost certainties for relegation but then, when he wasn't injured anymore, Macclesfield started winning on a regular basis before leaving for Hull in January. In the 7 games since Parkin left, Macclesfield have creditably only lost once, a 5-0 defeat at Northampton, however, they have only won twice and one of those was in the LDV Vans competition.

Since the 2-2 draw at Sincil Bank in December, Macclesfield have dragged themselves out of immediate danger on the field but financial struggles almost stopped the club existing all together. They drew 2-2 at Cheltenham a week after drawing City before progressing in the LDV thanks to a 4-2 Quarter final win over Cambridge. A 1-1 draw at home to Barnet was followed by their huge 6-0 win at home to Stockport on boxing day and then a 1-0 victory over Chester on New Years Eve. The 2nd of January was a huge day for Macclesfield as Jon Parkin inspired them to a 5-4 away win at Wycombe. Parkin's final game for Macclesfield came with a 3-1 defeat at Boston.

A 1-1 draw at home with Oxford was followed by the 5-0 thumping at Northampton. Macclesfield progressed to the LDV Northern Finals with a 2-0 win over Hereford and in the final, they would meet Carlisle, who were also the next visitors in the league and left on the back of a 3-0 thumping. However, they have played 3 away games since then and drawn all three 1-1. Those games coming at Shrewsbury, Mansfield and Oxford.