There are some football matches you forget by the time you’re home and the kettle’s boiled, such as Charlton at home this season (which I don’t remember a single moment of).
Others live long in the memory, etched into the psyche like etchings in the stone of a cathedral wall. And then there are games like this one, 20 years ago today.
Saturday 25th March 2006. A date that needs no fanfare for those who were there. A derby day drubbing so emphatic it transcended the usual local bragging rights and elbowed its way into national headlines. Yes, that game against Grimsby Town.
Both clubs came into the fixture in fine fettle. Grimsby, second in League Two and eyeing the automatic spots, had one of the tightest defences in the division. Lincoln, sitting eighth, looked good for a fourth straight crack at the play-offs. Something had to give.
Keith Alexander named a 4-3-3 line-up designed to frustrate and counter: Marriott between the sticks; a back four of Cryan, Brown, McCombe, and Mayo; a no-nonsense midfield of Beevers, Kerr and Foster; and a front line of Green, Robinson and Jamie Forrester, making his debut for the Imps. They were tasked with stretching what many considered an imperious Mariners back line. In truth, it’s not a classic Lincoln City side; one straddled between the glorious previous years and the excitement to come under John Schofield.
Sincil Bank was near capacity. Over 7,000 were in attendance, a sizeable crowd in the mid-2000s, boosted by a strong travelling support from Cleethorpes. They needn’t have bothered.
The opening salvo came early. Just twelve minutes in, Luke Foster found himself on the end of a loose ball and looped a header beyond Mildenhall via the post. Untidy, perhaps, but it counted. Four minutes later, Jamie Forrester punished a miscommunication between Rob Futcher and Justin Whittle with a delicious half-volley. Two-nil. Game on? Not quite.
Grimsby, shellshocked, pushed forward but couldn’t find a way through Lincoln’s rugged rearguard. On 38 minutes, Marvin Robinson surged into the area and was upended by Mildenhall. Penalty. Up stepped Paul Mayo, Sincil Bank’s set-piece specialist, who rocketed the spot-kick into the top corner. Three.
The fourth was straight off the training ground—or, more accurately, a product of good instincts. Beevers fired a low ball across the face of goal and Robinson, alert and unmarked, tucked it home with minimal fuss. Four-nil. Half time still hadn’t arrived. Then, the moment that truly immortalised the day.
While the Imps sauntered down the tunnel to deserved applause and celebratory backslaps, Grimsby’s players remained on the pitch, not for extra warm-ups or tactical drills. No, manager Russell Slade marched onto the field, flip chart in hand, and sat his players down for a public dressing down—in the centre circle.
No shelter. No changing room. Just a flip chart, a very red face, and 7,000 Imps fans roaring with laughter. It was surreal. It was iconic. It was utterly humiliating—for them, anyway.
The second half? Almost incidental. The contest was over, and Lincoln knew it. Slade rang the changes, hauling off Whittle and Ciaran Toner for Jean-Paul Kalala and Rob Jones. Grimsby huffed and puffed but never looked like clawing anything back.
Instead, there was just enough time for one more dagger. With seven minutes left, Beevers let fly from distance, his shot taking a wicked deflection off a hapless defender before looping in to complete the rout. Five-nil. The biggest winning margin since Grimsby won 6-1 in 1899 and the biggest winning margin to nil between the two sides ever.
Grimsby’s promotion hopes took a severe dent. They slipped out of the top three and eventually finished fourth, while Lincoln’s own playoff ambitions were cemented in seventh. The two would meet again that season in the playoff semi-final. That’s not worth me writing up right now.
Or ever.
Still, we’ll always have that 5-0.
5-0 at home v Donny was good too. Won the title that day.If i close my eyes I can see Percys headed goal from defence to attack in a flash !