Report
Newly-appointed manager Chris Moyses had the luxury of naming unchanged starting lin-up for this Vanarama Conference fixture against Nuneaton Town at Sincil Bank Stadium whilst there were recalls following injury for Arnaud Mendy and Conner Robinson who were on the bench.
City kicked off on a blustery evening and were the first to attack with Jake Caprice winning a corner on the right but Hamza Bencherif was penalised for a foul after Jordan Burrow flicked on Sean Newton's delivery.
Another City corner came in the fifth minute but this also came to nothing but it wasn't long before the Imps were pushing forward again and after Marcus Marshall created space, he sent in a low cross and there to produce a classy back-flick finish was JORDAN BURROW for his seventh of the season.
The Imps remained dominant although the wind robbed Caprice of another centre after a clever reverse pass from Ben Tomlinson opened up the Nuneaton defence whilst a chipped free-kick from Newton went out for a goal-kick.
It wasn't long though before number two came along and this time Caprice was the provider for BEN TOMLINSON who finished clinically from a narrowing angle after he escaped the Boro offside trap.
Before play restarted Gavin Cowan replaced Anthony Charles for the visitors, who a minute later saw Paul Farman punch away a Lee Fowler free-kick after Charlee Adams tripped Anton Brown. A minute later Brown was upended by Alan Power but the City wall stood firm.
A swift City attack in the 25th minute ended with the overlapping Newton winning a corner and when this was half-cleared a terrific run from Adams saw him skip past the challenges before drilling just wide from the edge of the box.
Shortly after the half-hour mark Burrow fired straight at Dibble following a great piece of build-up play; this coming shortly after 25 successive passes were pieced together by the men in red and white.
At the other end Hamza Bencherif hacked off the line after a deflected cross went goalwards after Farman failed to gather in he swirling wind whilst a couple of minutes before the break Adams went to ground holding his face after Fowler's arm appeared to make contact. The young midfielder returned following further treatment off the pitch.
The encouraging half ended after two additional minutes of play with the Imps fully deserving of their two-goal lead.
HT: IMPS 2 NUNEATON 0
Both teams emerged unchanged for the start of the second half and it was the visitors who started brightly with the Imps forced to defend a Fowler free-kick which hung in the strengthening wind.
At the other end Marshall crossed and Tomlinson dummied but nobody was there in a red and white shirt. City then won a corner but Newton's delivery failed to lead to a third goal. Nuneaton's response saw them win a corner via a deflected cross but City cleared their lines with ease.
The Imps were gifted a third goal on the hour mark when right-back Ben Starosta saw his attempted header back to Dibble go past the keeper giving JORDAN BURROW the easy task of rolling home his second o the game.
Nuneaton's response saw Theo Streete fire over after slippping over before Adam Walker and Onome Sodje replaced Fowler and Smith for Boro. Walker was quickly in the action, firing goalwards only for Bencherif to get in a timely block.
City's first changes came in the 68th minute with Arnaud Mendy and Conner Robinson coming on for Adams and Burrow whilst a minute later Bencherif headed a Newton corner a foot over the bar.
The Imps' next attack saw Nolan stab just wide after some great persistence from Tomlinson brought about an error in the visiting defence. Mendy then drilled wide from 25 yards as City pushed forward again.
With 15 minutes remaining, the visitors were reduced to 10 men when Theo Streete send Nolan tumbling inches outside the box. With the Boro skipper the last man, referee Ross Joyce had arguably the easiest decision of the season as he dismissed the big centre-back. It took a superb save from Dibble to keep out Newton's subsequent free-kick.
Tyrell Waite replaced Marshall for his City debut and his first touch in the 81st minute saw him release Tomlinson who delayed his shot giving a back-tracking defender the chance to get in a block. Miller then needed treatment after coming off worse in a challenge in which he was penalised for a foul.
Just before the Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of three minutes were to be added on, the visitors bagged a consolation when Cowan headed home a Dawson free-kick at the back post.
Shortly after play resumed, Miller went to ground again and eventually left the pitch very gingerly, looking dazed as he headed towards the dressing rooms. Play ended shortly afterwards with the ball in the City attacking third.
FT: IMPS 3 NUNEATON 1
LINCOLN CITY
1 Paul FARMAN
17 Jake CAPRICE
2 Tom MILLER
5 Hamza BENCHERIF
3 Sean NEWTON
20 Charlee ADAMS
14 Jon NOLAN
8 Alan POWER
22 Marcus MARSHALL
11 Ben TOMLINSON
9 Jordan BURROW
subs
12 Arnaud MENDY (for ADAMS 68)
16 Conner ROBINSON (for BURROW 68)
24 Thierry AUDEL
25 Tyrell WAITE (for MARSHALL 80)
26 Nick TOWNSEND
GOALS: BURROW (6 & 60), TOMLINSON (17)
NUNEATON TOWN
1 Christian DIBBLE
2 Ben STAROSTA
3 Connor FRANKLIN
7 James ARMSON
9 Adam DAWSON
11 Theo STREETE
14 Michael GASH
17 Ryan SMITH
18 Anton BROWN
26 Lee FOWLER
29 Anthony CHARLES
subs
4 Gavin COWAN (for CHARLES 18)
5 Gareth DEAN
6 Adam WALKER (for FOWLER 63)
21 Ryan QUINN
28 Onome SODJE (for SMITH 64)
GOAL: COWAN (90)
SENDING OFF: STREETE (75)
REFEREE: Ross Joyce
ASSISTANTS: Paul Brown & Iain Turner
FOURTH OFFICIAL: John Matthews
ATTENDANCE: 1,421 (18 visiting supporters)
