Match report...
Alan Power replaced the injured Jon Nolan and Jordan Burrow came in for Marcus Marshall as Chris Moyses made two changes for this Tuesday night Vanarama Conference game against Altrincham at Sincil Bank Stadium.
Following an impeccable minute's silence as part of the Remembrance Day commemorations, Altrincham kicked off and were quickly on the offensive with Damian Reeves going in hard on Nat Brown but nothing other than a quiet word for the Altrincham striker was the outcome.
The visitors then forced a couple of corners before Paul Farman held an Adam Griffin free-kick after Arnaud Mendy tripped Reeves 25 yards from goal.
City responded well and pieced together an excellent move which ended up with Burrow heading past David Parton in the seventh minute only for the assistant referee to raise his flag and rule the effort out.
Altrincham were certainly looking sharp on the break as they looked for an early advantage with the Imps happy to soak up the pressure and look to break quickly when in possession of the ball.
After a quiet spell, Newton advanced in the 21st minute but saw his skidding right-footed effort held by Parton whilst from the next break three minutes later a decent passing move ended up with City winning a throw-in but when Tom Miller hurled the ball in Brown was penalised for a foul.
A scrappy game continued past the half-hour mark and from a rare attack, Altrincham's James Lawrie prodded wide following a swift break down the right flank. At the other end a City move from one side to the other ended up with Delano Sam-Yorke seeing a deflected overhead kick kept in by Parton.
Three minutes before the break a foul on Sam-Yorke gave the Imps a chance to create something from a set-piece on the left but Newton's low delivery was easily cleared and City were made to pay for their lack of punch shortly before the break when the visitors took the lead.
The goal, Altrincham's first effort on target, came from Simon Richman who let fly from 25 yards with his left-footed effort beating Farman and crashing into the top right corner of his net.
HT: IMPS 0 ALTRINCHAM 1
Both teams emerged unchanged for the start of the second half with Altrincham the early recipients of a free-kick midway inside the City half but Miller rose well to clear before Farman claimed a follow-up centre.
At the other end Mendy drilled a low 25-yard effort wide of the target but it wasn't long before the visitors were pressing forward and whe Lawrie fired in a low cross it met by a stooping Reeves who saw his flicked header fly past Farman to double his side's advantage with 51 minutes on the clock.
Five minutes later Ben Tomlinson replaced Arnaud Mendy and he was quickly in the action, being crudely upended by Richman who somehow escaped a caution. Conner Robinson then replaced Delano Sam-Yorke on the hour mark.
The two substitues quickly combined with the latter volleying wide on the turn but it was the former who pulled one back for the Imps in the 66th minute; the Lincoln-born striker latching on to a forward ball before neatly lobbing the advancing Parton.
Parton saved well from Tomlinson as he looked for a quick second before skipper Power sliced a left-footed effort well wide after the visitors failed to deal with a long Miller throw-in.
A couple of minutes later Audel and Reeves crashed against each other with the City man hobbling away having taken a knock to his knee. Visiting keeper Parton was then booked for taking too long over a free-kick.
With 13 minutes on the clock Jake Caprice replaced Audel with Miller slotting inside as a result and after the Imps dealt with an Altrincham corner, visiting centre-back Tom Marshall was booked for a shove on Robinson.
Before the resultant free-kick was taken Kyle Perry replaced Damian Reeves and when it was, by Newton, Miller headed wide from close range. Burrow repeated the feat shortly after when his downward header from a Newton cross bounced over the bar.
Peter Cavanagh for Sean Williams was Altrincham's second change with the clock in its 88th minute whilst shortly afterwards Burrow had a header held by Parton.
City had a minimum of four additional minutes in which to salvage something but apart from a wild Tomlinson effort which blazed well over from the edge of box, nothing was forthcoming. The game ended with Farman and Perry both seeing yellow following an incident close to touchline.
FT: IMPS 1 ALTRINCHAM 2
LINCOLN CITY
1 Paul FARMAN
2 Tom MILLER
23 Nat BROWN
24 Thierry AUDEL
3 Sean NEWTON
12 Arnaud MENDY
5 Hamza BENCHERIF
8 Alan POWER
10 Karl LEDSHAM
9 Jordan BURROW
15 Delano SAM-YORKE
subs
11 Ben TOMLINSON (for MENDY 56)
16 Conner ROBINSON (for SAM-YORKE 60)
17 Jake CAPRICE (for AUDEL 77)
22 Marcus MARSHALL
26 Nick TOWNSEND
GOAL: ROBINSON (66)
BOOKING: FARMAN (90+5)
ALTRINCHAM
17 David PARTON
2 Shaun DENSMORE
3 Adam GRIFFIN
4 Jake MOULT
5 Gianluca HAVERN
6 Scott LEATHER
7 James LAWRIE
8 Simon RICHMAN
10 Damian REEVES
16 Tom MARSHALL
18 Sean WILLIAMS
subs
9 Steven GILLESPIE
14 Kyle PERRY (for REEVES 82)
15 Greg WILKINSON
25 Peter CAVANAGH (for WILLIAMS 88)
24 Josh SAMBERG
GOALS: RICHMAN (45), REEVES (51)
BOOKINGS: PARTON (75), MARSHALL (81), PERRY (90+5)
REFEREE: Simon Bennett
ASSISTANTS: Neil Pratt & Chris Francis
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Dean Appleby
ATTENDANCE: 1,953 (42 visiting supporters)