City let slip a two goal lead as 10-man Darlington came from behind to draw 2-2 at Sincil Bank on New Year's Eve.

First-half festive cheer quickly turned to second-half disappointment in what was a game of two halves in City's final fixture of 2005.

The Imps, who had a new look about them after boss Keith Alexander rung the changes following the Grimsby defeat, went 2-0 in the space of two sensational first-half minutes.

On 18 minutes, a dangerous Scott Kerr corner entered the Darlington six-yard box and the visiting defence failed to deal with it, Jamie McCombe flicked the ball on and there was Gareth McAuley - like so many times before - coming in at the back post to hammer the ball past a helpless David Knight.

And less than 120 seconds later, it was 2-0. A quick interchange of passes between Dean Keates and Scott Kerr saw Kerr feed the ball into the feet of Marvin Robinson in the six-yard box. The striker turned and fired a shot at goal, which 'keeper Knight did superbly to stop, but the rebound fell back to Robinson who made no mistake this time as he buried the ball in the back of the net.

Darlington's task of reducing the deficit in the second half was made all the more difficult when Akpo Sodje was sent off in the first minute of injury time. Sodje brought down Luke Foster with a late tackle in midfield, and referee Dean Whitestone brandished the red card to send Sodje for an early bath.

The sending off was a turning point - but, ironically, it seemed to be to Darlington's advantage as on 63 minutes, they reduced the deficit to 2-1 when Tresor Kandol blasted home. The City back four fell asleep and Kandol was left all alone at the back post. The striker's first attempt was saved by the legs of Alan Marriott but the rebound fell to Kandol who hammered a rising shot into the roof of the net to give the goalkeeper no chance.

Darlington now looked dangerous and you could sense an equaliser was in their sights. And so it was no surprise when substitute Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu levelled matters at 2-2 in the 68th minute. The ball arrived at the edge of the Imps box as the home side failed to clear their lines and Ndumbu-Nsungu punished the slack defending by firing an unstoppable half volley past Alan Marriott.

Marvin Robinson makes it 2-0

report by Jonny Hall at Sincil Bank:

Imps boss Keith Alexander rung the changes for this afternoon's clash with Darlington after seeing his side crash to a 3-0 defeat at Grimsby Town on Wednesday night.

In came midfielder Dean Keates, who returned from a three-match ban, along with Jeff Hughes and striker Marvin Robinson. Midfielder Nat Brown and striker Derek Asamoah dropped to the substitutes bench alongside top goalscorer Gary Birch, plus youngsters Ollie Ryan and Lee Frecklington.

City lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, with Alan Marriott in goal behind a back four of (from left to right) Paul Mayo, Gareth McAuley, Jamie McCombe and Colin Cryan. Dean Keates joined Scott Kerr and Luke Foster in midfield, whilst the versatile Jeff Hughes played to the left of attacking duo Richard Logan and Marvin Robinson.

The Imps kicked off attacking the Industrial & Marine Power Services stand but the action came to a halt in the first minute when Gareth McAuley came off worse in a clash of heads with Akpo Sodje. Following medical treatment on the touchline from City's assistant physio Michael Wait and a club doctor, McAuley returned to the field. For a moment, it looked like McAuley - looking shaken - would not be able to continue.

City had the first chance of the match in the 10th minute when a determined Dean Keates burst into the Darlington box and played the ball left to Richard Logan whose snap shot was blocked. The ball came out to Jeff Hughes on the edge of the box and his curling left-foot shot with the outside of his boot hit the side netting and went wide.

The home side enjoyed the best of the opening 15 minutes and imposed themselves on the visitors with two decent attacking moves in the space of three minutes. On 15 minutes, Jamie McCombe found himself on the edge of the Quakers' 18-yard box and his long-range drive was blocked.

Then, a minute later, a fine move from City saw Richard Logan skip down the left, cut into the box and pick out his strike partner Marvin Robinson lingering on the edge of the box. Darlington's defence was all at sea as Robinson unleashed a powerful drive which 'keeper Knight kept out with his legs.

City's persistence reaped its rewards as they found the back of the net twice in a sensational two minutes. On 18 minutes, a dangerous Scott Kerr corner entered the Darlington six-yard box and the visiting defence failed to deal with it, Jamie McCombe flicked the ball on and there was Gareth McAuley - like so many times before - coming in at the back post to hammer the ball past a helpless Knight.

Literally from the restart, just 120 seconds later, Lincoln raced into a 2-0 lead to stun the visitors. A quick interchange of passes between Dean Keates and Scott Kerr saw Kerr feed the ball into the feet of Marvin Robinson in the six-yard box. The striker turned and fired a shot at goal, which 'keeper Knight did superbly to stop, but the rebound fell back to Robinson who made no mistake this time as he buried the ball in the back of the net.

City's style of play had a completely different feel about it this afternoon. The influence of Dean Keates in the middle of the park - alongside the equally cultured Scott Kerr - saw the Imps play the ball to feet much more than they had done this season. Jeff Hughes, on the left-hand side, seemed to give City a wide outlet too.

Following the goal flurry, Lincoln were full of confidence. It was a totally different team to the side which half-heartedly succumbed to a 3-0 defeat at Grimsby in midweek. On 22 minutes, Richard Logan tried his luck from distance but his speculative drive flew a couple of feet over the upright. Two minutes later, Luke Foster saw a long-range attempt well saved by Knight.

As the half hour mark arrived, the game had settled down with neither side able to muster any goalmouth chances. In the 33rd minute, Darlington defender Shelton Martis saw a weak header from 10 yards sail over Alan Marriott's crossbar. City won a corner after 35 minutes which was swung in by Scott Kerr. It fell to Richard Logan at the back post, he fired the ball low and hard across goal but it hit Jamie McCombe's legs and Darlington hacked it to safety.

Darlington boss David Hodgson could not have been happy with his side's first-half display as the visitors had little impact on the match up to this point. The Quakers won a corner on 39 minutes following good work by Brian Close down the right. From the corner, it was Close who blasted a long-range shot high over the Stacey West stand.

The Imps won a corner in the 43rd minute but Dean Keates' deep cross evaded everyone and ran out for a throw-in on the far side. Three minutes of added time were given as City looked comfortable with their two-goal lead heading into the break.

Darlington's task of reducing the deficit in the second half was made all the more difficult when Akpo Sodje was sent off in the first minute of injury time. Sodje brought down Luke Foster with a late tackle in midfield, and referee Dean Whitestone brandished the red card - when a booking would have been sufficient - to send Sodje for an early bath.

The foul was late, but didn't appear to be malicious. But referee Whitestone was close by and didn't waste any time in dismissing the player. When play resumed, Luke Foster had a header from a corner saved by 'keeper Knight before the half-time whistle was blown. Both sets of players were involved in a scuffle - handbags really - as they came to the defence of their men.

It emerged at half-time that Gareth McAuley had suffered concussion when he fell to the floor in the first minute of the match. McAuley was unconscious when he hit the deck, but quickly regained consciousness, according to City's medical team supervisor Andy South. McAuley was able to play throughout the first-half and emerged for the second-half.

HT: IMPS 2 DARLINGTON 0

Ten-man Darlington got the second-half underway having made two substitutions at the break: Carlos Logan replaced Joe Kendrick, whilst former Sheffield Wednesday striker Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu was introduced in place of Simon Johnson. The visitors began the second-half brightly by winning a corner in the opening minute. Neil Wainwright whipped it in, Matthew Clarke rose high and his deft header flew a whisker past the post.

After that early wake-up call, City hit back at the other end when the influential Dean Keates broke into the Darlington box from the left and pulled the ball back to Luke Foster. But Foster's stinging drive from 15 yards was well blocked by Clarke. Action soon switched to the other end when striker Tresor Kandol found time and space to drill a low shot at goal which was comfortably saved by Alan Marriott.

The opening ten minutes of the second-half were open as Darlington, with ten men, were making life awkward for City. Darlington had stepped up a gear to compensate for being a man down and it showed as the woodwork denied them a goal in the 54th minute. A Darlington corner was flicked on by Matt Clarke and Neil Wainwright's header from eight yards out struck the foot of the post and bounced away.

Having been let off the hook there, City had a good chance to extend their lead to three and put the game beyond Darlington's reach on 56 minutes. Quakers 'keeper David Knight was caught in no-man's land as he came rushing off his goal line to collect a loose ball, but then stopped as Marvin Robinson charged goalwards. It allowed Robinson to jump for a header, but his header was too weak and Knight claimed the ball easily to save his blushes.

It was an end-to-end affair as first, Ndumbu-Nsungu let fly with an ambitious drive from 25 yards which sailed over the Imps upright, and then a Dean Keates free-kick saw Luke Foster's header easily saved by Knight on 61 minutes. Playing against ten men, City seemed like they didn't know whether to attack or defend and it cost them in the 63rd minute.

On 63 minutes, Darlington reduced the deficit to 2-1 when Tresor Kandol blasted home. The City back four fell asleep and Kandol was left all alone at the back post. The striker's first attempt was saved by the legs of Alan Marriott but the rebound fell to Kandol who hammered a rising shot into the roof of the net to give the goalkeeper no chance.

Darlington now looked dangerous and you could sense an equaliser was in their sights. And so it was no surprise when Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu levelled matters at 2-2 in the 68th minute. The ball arrived at the edge of the Imps box as the home side failed to clear their lines and Ndumbu-Nsungu punished the slack defending by firing an unstoppable half volley past Alan Marriott.

On 71 minutes, Imps boss Keith Alexander made his first change of the match when he replaced Scott Kerr with Nat Brown. It appeared that Brown was introduced to do a man-marking job on Darlington dangerman Tresor Kandol. Four minutes later, the Imps made a double change when Derek Asamoah replaced Jeff Hughes and Gary Birch replaced Marvin Robinson.

City had now reverted to a 5-2-3 formation with Richard Logan, Gary Birch and Derek Asamoah as the front three. Luke Foster and Dean Keates were in midfield, with Paul Mayo, Gareth McAuley, Jamie McCombe, Colin Cryan and Nat Brown at the back.

City's frustrations seemed to grow as they couldn't find any headway against the ten men of Darlington. The home side's rhythm had been knocked out of shape after conceding those two second-half goals. It was scrappy as the match entered its final ten minutes.

Darlington made their second change with five minutes remaining when they replaced Brian Close with Matthew Appleby. City threw bodies forward in search of a winner and saw a good chance to grab that winner go wasted in the 86th minute. A fierce drive from Dean Keates was parried by Knight and the ball fell to Richard Logan but his close range attempt was sent wide by the legs of 'keeper Knight. He really should have scored.

City won two corners in quick succession. The first, sent in by Keates, saw Nat Brown's header at the back post deflected wide. The second also involved Brown - his header from 12 yards saved by Knight. The midfielder's disappointment turned to frustration when he was booked for kicking the ball into the stands two minutes later.

Four minutes of added time were given - four minutes for City to find the three points which looked all but secured at half-time. The Imps had a shout for a penalty in the first minute of added time when Gary Birch fell to the ground under a challenge from Matt Clarke, but it was never a penalty.

There was a danger that City would succumb to defeat as a two-on-one situation looked destined to end in a Darlington goal. The pacey Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu - who had an impact when he came on - sped forward and, with Gareth McAuley the only Lincoln defender back, he laid it left to Carlos Logan. He cut into the box and unleashed a wicked shot which caught a deflection and drifted out for a corner.

FT: IMPS 2 DARLINGTON 2

TEAM SHEET

LINCOLN CITY
Alan MARRIOTT
Colin CRYAN
Paul MAYO
Gareth McAULEY
Jamie McCOMBE
Scott KERR
Luke FOSTER
Dean KEATES
Jeff HUGHES
Marvin ROBINSON
Richard LOGAN

Subs:
Nat BROWN (for KERR 72)
Derek ASAMOAH (for HUGHES 76)
Gary BIRCH (for M ROBINSON 76)
Ollie RYAN
Lee FRECKLINGTON

Goals: McAULEY (17), M ROBINSON (19)

Bookings: M ROBINSON (76), N BROWN (90+)

DARLINGTON
David KNIGHT
Brian CLOSE
Matt CLARKE
Shelton MARTIS
Clark KELTIE
Joe KENDRICK
Jonjo DICKMAN
Simon JOHNSON
Neil WAINWRIGHT
Tresor KANDOL
Apko SODJE

Subs:
Guylain NDUMBU-NSUNGU (for JOHNSON h/t)
Carlos LOGAN (for KENDRICK h/t)
Matthew APPLEBY (for CLOSE 85)
Ryan VALENTINE
Anthony PEACOCK

Goals: KANDOL (63), NDUMBU-NSUNGU (69)

Bookings: JOHNSON (45+), DICKMAN (74)

Sending Off: SODJE (45+)

Referee: Dean Whitestone (Northamptonshire)
Assistants: Martin Dexter & Alan Parker
Fourth Official: Craig Evans

Attendance: 4,008 (260 visiting supporters)