Day 40

Matthias Fanimo, who refused to join us on loan, has joined Mansfield on a five-month deal. Now I really think he's a jerk—they're in the same division as us.

The Lincoln Under 18s lost their first match of the season 3-2. Thomas, Cobb, and Rice played well, while Thacker was sent off in the closing stages for a second yellow card. I'm curious whether the lads will manage to win any games this season. Their competition doesn't appear to be great, but they're pretty crap too.

With Smith injured, I decided to bring Shuker back into the side as a striker rather than winger. Samba Kanouté was finally ready to make his debut, so I put him in at right back—he'll play in the middle if/when Bore drops into the defence again.

For the third match running, Rui Marques was declared our key man. I guess he's been a decisive factor in the previous two games, so that's a fair call. I thought Olembé and Shuker would be more the danger men in an open match like this.

And I was proven right in the first ten minutes. Olembé scored after Barnes-Homer broke into the box and cut the ball back on five minutes, then Shuker was fouled just inside the penalty area in the 9th minute after a great run. Nutter scored the resulting penalty.

In the 30th minute Shuker got on the end of a Kanouté long ball to cross to Olembé, who headed just wide. Two minutes later, a low cross from Bore caused problems. We continued to assert our dominance, as Bore, Shuker, and Olembé pressed forward, and Barnes-Homer went close with a first-team effort.

Then disaster struck on the cusp of half-time. A Mills cross hit Marques in the back, then rolled past Anyon for a Kettering goal. 2-1 at the break.

Barnes-Homer restored the two-goal buffer in the 52nd minute with a great turn and shot, before being substituted for Rodney because I thought he looked tired.

Rodney profited on a defensive error to set up Shuker for his first ever Lincoln goal on 69 minutes. We were cruising to victory.

Gowling went down injured on 75 minutes, and I was concerned that Kanouté appeared to be struggling. Losing both defenders would be a terrible blow. I took the young defender off two minutes later as a precaution, although he seemed to be recovering.

We held out for the 4-1 win. Man of the match deservedly went to Shuker. A fine away performance to maintain top stop and a 100% record. So far, so good. We're now the only team in the league to have won every game.