City suffered a last minute defeat despite a good performance against Cambridge United.
The Imps went close to taking the lead in the game and a standout performance from Cohen Bramall at left-back earned him Man Of The Match. A headed goal from Joe Ironside following a late free-kick that decided the game and saw Cambridge take the three points.
After an open first couple of minutes, the Imps created the first chance of the game through a burst of pace from Cohen Bramall down the left wing. He looked for Anthony Scully with a driven cross which was fumbled behind for a goal kick.
Cambridge then fired right back with a long range effort from Adam May that forced Josh Griffiths to make an outstretched save and tip it round the post.
A curled shot from Morgan Whittaker sailed over the cross bar as neither side could establish real control over the game after 20 minutes of play.
Lincoln then took charge with some nifty link-up play from Bramall and Scully which led to a ball across the box that found Liam Cullen. The debutant’s shot found the hands of U’s keeper, Dimitar Mitov.
Chris Maguire made life difficult for the visitors around the 30 minute mark with a whipped cross that just missed Scully at the back post. Shortly after, Maguire then dribbled the ball into the opposition’s penalty area and cut inside of his man, but the shot was blocked.
Bramall and Scully linked up once again the 34th minute as Bramall pulled it back for Scully, but Jack Iredale blocked the shot from three yards out.
The Imps came close as Conor McGrandles played Maguire through one-on-one in the 41st minute but Harrison Dunk managed to track back and deny Maguire the opening goal.
Bramall, a constant threat in the first half, bolted down the left-hand side and picked out Cullen on the six-yard box who was denied by a terrific reaction save from Mitov in the 45th minute.
It was Lincoln who looked the more dangerous side at the halftime break, but the scores remained level.
The first shot of the second half came from Whittaker on the edge of the 18-yard box but his effort failed to test the U’s keeper as it bounced wide of the post.
Cambridge thought they had taken the lead in the 58th as Joe Ironside found the back of the net, but the forward looked up to see the offside flag raised.
U’s boss Mark Bonner looked to change things up in the 61st minute with Wes Hoolahan replacing Ben Worman.
Both teams had chances to take the lead in the 64th minute. Sam Smith’s low-driven shot was denied by Griffiths while Cullen had his shot saved up the other end seconds later.
The first booking of the game was given to Cambridge’s James Brophy who was shown the yellow for simulation in the 71st.
Some great hold-up play from Scully in the 75th led to another chance for Cullen who forced Mitov to tip the shot over for a corner, but nothing came of it.
Lewis Fiorini was replaced by Max Sanders in the middle of the park as Michael Appleton looked for ways to break the deadlock in the final 10 minutes. Mark Bonner then followed suit, sending on Harvey Knibbs for Sam Smith.
Appleton opted for a double change in the 85th as Hakeeb Adelakun and Max Melbourne came on for Liam Cullen and Ted Bishop.
It was a 90th minute freekick that clinched it for Cambridge United as Ironside headed it past Griffiths to seal all three points for the visitors.
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