There’s just a few hours to go until the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste Men’s Football teams battle it out at Sincil Bank for the Cathedral Cup.
Both sides have won one Cathedral Cup each since the competition started with Bishop Grosseteste victorious last year winning 3-1 in an entertaining encounter between the two universities.
Bishop Grosseteste’s president Ryan Attwell played in that match and thinks his university can come out on top again.
“We’re very confident,” he said. “There’s a good spirit in the camp and we’re looking forward to the match. We’re ready for it.
“All of us third years have played in two Cathedral Cups so we’ve got the experience of playing in a match like this.
“To play so well last year and deservedly win the game was a brilliant feeling and hopefully we can do it again on Wednesday night.”
Callum Ward was President of Bishop Grosseteste’s team for the previous two Cathedral Cup matches and played a big part in organising the event both years.
“It was nice to end all of the hard work with a victory last year,” he said. “Especially after the manner in which we lost the first year.
“It was hard to convince the Bishop Grosseteste supporters that we’d do better but thankfully we backed up all the pre-match chat.
“Hopefully this year the supporters trust the team and believe that Bishop Grosseteste have a chance.”
There are plenty of other sports involved in the Cathedral Cup this year in addition to the football, which was something Ward hoped for when he first planned the event a couple of years ago.
“The whole event is becoming bigger with different sports spread across the week,” he said proudly.
“Its fantastic to have something on the sporting calendar for the two unis in the city to look forward to.”
So what about the University of Lincoln’s chances in this year’s match?
For their President Fraser Field it will be his first Cathedral Cup – as it will be for many of his teammates because the University of Lincoln agree to play third years only in the match.
“I’ve been a spectator for the last couple of years, as have many of our team who are going to be playing on Wednesday,” said Field.
“You could argue that Bishop Grosseteste have got the upper hand – many of their players have already played in the Cathedral Cup and have experienced playing at a stadium like Sincil Bank.
“I’m sure our lads will be able to deal with the pressure of playing in front of so many people. We’ve got good quality in the team.”
Field witnessed his university win 6-1 in the first year of the Cathedral Cup but thinks last year’s defeat wasn’t a surprise considering the strength of the Bishop Grosseteste team.
“As a spectator it wasn’t nice to watch last year,” he admitted. “All of the players out on the pitch last year, we’re good mates with. We felt their pain and we’re out to win that trophy back.”
“Bishop Grosseteste are no longer that little uni up the hill – they’re a decent uni and a decent football side and we’re fully aware of that.”
So there’s all to play for in this year’s match – which university will leave Sincil Bank with the bragging rights until next year?
We’ll have live updates of tonight’s match on our Twitter @LincSport and there will be live match commentary on Siren Radio from 7pm.