Lincoln City Football Club

Following their hard-earned and deserved draw at Barnet at the weekend, the Imps were unchanged for this Skrill Premier game against Southport at Gelder Group Sincil Bank Stadium.

City kicked off attacking the Bridge McFarland Stand and were the first to press with a long Tom Miller throw missed by keeper Danny Hurst only for the ball to bounce off Andrew Boyce's back and out for a goal kick.

Southport then dealt with an Imps' corner before another ended up with a free-kick to the visitors whilst at the other end, the visitors' first corner was cleared by the Imps' back-line.

A sweeping City move in the 13th minute ended with Jake Sheridan seeing his cross claimed by Hurst and when the 'keeper pumped the ball up field, Karl Ledsham was cautioned for a late challenge on Jon Nolan.

Ben Tomlinson then had an effort charged down as he got involved for the first time whilst good work from Sean Newton saw him twist his way into space before the Southport defence cleared for a throw-in.

In the 20th minute a quickly taken Steve Akrigg free-kick saw Paul Farman back pedal to tip over whilst shortly afterwards the City number one got down low to hold a Brice Irie-Bi drive.

City dealt well with a brief spell of further Southport danger and responded in style as, after switching play from right to left, Newton got past his man and whipped in a superb cross and there stooping to meet it with his head was the onrushing TOM MILLER to bag his first of the campaign.

A couple of minutes after the restart Mo Fofana saw a cross-cum-shot land on the roof of the net as the Imps looked for a quick second and from the next attack, Power was inches away with a deflected effort flying wide for a corner.

More good work from Power saw him force another flag-kick which was cleared before Nolan was bundled over for a free-kick. An offside flag then robbed Sheridan a sight of goal after he was released down the middle.

A great block by Nolan denied Irie-Bi at the other end as the half approached its final minute whilst towards the end of 90 seconds of additional time, Farman was forced to tip over a long-range Scott Brown effort.

HT: Imps 1 Southport 0

Both teams emerged unchanged for the start of the second half and the Imps were the first on the attack with good play by Fofana seeing him win a throw-in which put the Southport defence on the back foot.

Six minutes after the restart Nolan fizzed an effort just wide after he was played in by Newton from the left. A quick break from Sheridan then saw his cross cleared behind before it could reach Power but Newton's corner sailed straight out of play.

Southport's response saw Hattersley have two shots charged down before Miller cleared another effort off the line. A surging run forward from Fofana then saw him force another corner on the City right which was duly claimed by Hurst.

A knock to Southport's David Fitzpatrick brought about a break in play on the hour mark after he came off worse in a 50-50 challenge with Tomlinson who covered a great deal of ground to close down his man.

Corner number seven for the Imps came in the 63rd minute and saw the visitors somehow scramble clear whilst a minute later Tomlinson fired a shot into the side netting from a narrow angle.

Southport were the first to make a change with Osayamen Osawe and Chris Almond coming on for Danny Hattersley and Steve Akrigg.

In the 72rd minute the overlapping Newton won a corner before Nick Wright was brought on for Ben Tomlinson. Jamie Milligan replaced Brice Irie-Bi for the visitors a minute later.

With the game opening up as Southport pushed for a leveller, a quick City break brought about another corner which ended up seeing Boyce meet Newton's delivery only to see his header clip a team mate and go out for a goal-kick.

Bohan Dixon replaced Jake Sheridan in the 80th minute for City's second change and this substitution seemed to calm things down a bit as the clock ticked on.

With four minutes remaining, the Imps had a glorious chance to put the game beyond the reach of the visitors when Wright was dumped to the deck in the area as he looked to cut inside his marker; referee Kavanagh was quickly on the spot and pointed to the spot. Wright took the penalty himself but was denied by Hurst's feet as the substitute drove it low and central

Nolan was booked for a foul shortly afterwards whilst just before four additional minutes was indicated Luke Foster was brought on for Alan Power.

Good play by Dixon and Jordan saw the latter win a corner which was headed wide by Foster and the game eventually ended after almost an additional minute of extra time.

FT: Imps 1 Southport 0

9 Danny ROWE

10 Nick WRIGHT (for TOMLINSON 72)

15 Dan GRAY

17 Bohan DIXON (for SHERIDAN 80)

27 Luke FOSTER (for POWER 90+1)

GOAL: MILLER (26)

BOOKING: NOLAN (88) 

8 Jamie MILLIGAN (for IRIE-BI 73)

11 Chris ALMOND (for AKRIGG 66)

19 David STEVENSON

21 Osayamen OSAWE (for HATTERSLEY 66)

BOOKING: LEDSHAM (14)