Lincoln 2-0 Sunderland

This was the first game back in the Bank for over a year, and if I hadn’t picked it as one of my highlights, I couldn’t claim to have a valid viewpoint on Lincoln ever again. Let’s be fair, we had stumbled over the line, enjoying a brief renaissance after a tough February and March, but we arrived in the top six on the slide, not on the rise. Sunderland were on a bounce, Streaky Johnson had got them into the top six and their squad looked frightening. Didn’t I know it too; Dad went on about ‘yer man’ Wyke and ‘yer boy’ McGeady for a week before the game! Few expected us to win to nil, even with fans in the ground.

I was tempted to pick the away leg, maybe because having a defeat in there might have looked a bit edgy and cool, but this game set the second leg up, and whatever came before, or after, one moment made this the ultimate game for me. Six minutes after half time, Tom Hopper bagged for the Imps and 3,000 fans sounded like 30,000. After so long away from the ground, it felt amazing to celebrate a goal, and it is likely to be a moment that stays with me forever. In terms of Michael’s reign, it showed that despite the setbacks, the injuries (losing Alex Palmer days before the game) and the patchy form, we still had it in us to compete with anyone at all over 90 minutes. That, more than anything, epitomises his tenure for me.