A bitterly cold afternoon and a bitterly disappointing result made it a miserable trip to Chester on Saturday afternoon for the Imps who slipped to a 4-1 defeat on the road.

The Imps found themselves a goal down in the 20th minute when midfielder Roberto Martinez netted after Alan Marriott dropped a cross under pressure from Jon Walters whilst it was Walters who doubled matters eight minutes into the second half when he followed up after he saw his header came back down off the crossbar before hitting Marriott on the back.

City, without leading scorer Jamie Forrester due to injury, got themselves back into the game in the 64rd minute when Nat Brown, pushed forward seconds earlier, scrambled a Martin Gritton cross in at the back post but, after weathering a subsequent Lincoln storm, two more Chester goals wrapped thing up.

Number three came when Gregg Blundell flicked home a Kevin Sandwith free-kick via the underside of the bar whilst the fourth was a looping effort from Laurence Wilson which agonisingly dropped over Marriott and in just under the bar.

Lee Frecklington crashed a stoppage time free-kick against the woodwork but, despite forcing 15 corners to Chester's one, it was the digits in the goals scored column that counted when referee Stroud brought a bitterly cold afternoon to a bitterly disappointing conclusion.

Nat Brown gets in a header

Match report by John Vickers at the Saunders Honda Stadium:

With Jamie Forrester failing a pre-match fitness test after picking up a strain in training on Friday, in came Martin Gritton for only his second League start of the season.

Head Coach John Schofield, meanwhile, named a relatively defensive substitute's bench with Paul Mayo, Adie Moses and Paul Morgan were named alongside goalkeeper Simon Rayner and new signing Richard Kell.

The Imps went into the game on the back of a 1-0 home win over Bristol Rovers in midweek whilst Chester's 3-1 success over struggling Boston United on Tuesday was their first League success in six attempts.

It was a cold Cheshire afternoon as the teams made their way out on to the pitch, which was recovering from a pre-match hail storm. Referee Keith Stroud from Hampshire got things underway with the hosts kicking off.

Seconds after the start, heavy rain started to drive across the ground and into City's defensive faces. It was thanks to this wind that Chester were the first to attack with a deep centre from the right being well claimed by Alan Marriott.

City replied well with a ball down the flank by Nicky Eaden ending up with Martin Gritton forcing a corner on the right. Lee Frecklington's delivery was cleared by the towering home defence though and the danger was gone.

At the other end Marriott easily held a Roberton Martinez free-kick after the experienced Spaniard tried to use the wind to his advantage from 40 yards out after Nat Brown felled Jon Walters.

A mistimed challenge from skipper Scott Kerr on Gregg Blundell led to another Chester free-kick in the 10th minute; this time ex-Imp Kevin Sandwith curled a left-footed shot well wide of the upright.

Sandwith fired wide again a couple of minutes later after the City defence failed to clear their lines from another Chester foray forward whilst at the other end good work by Frecklington saw him win a second Lincoln corner; which subsequently flew past the outstretched leg of Brown at the back stick.

Mark Stallard was then denied a goal thanks to a Chester defender's boot after he connected with a fine Ryan Amoo centre before drilling towards the target; the striker's low effort clipping a heel before going behind for a corner.

Chester replied though and, with the clock in the 20th minute, they grabbed the lead, although the Imps can feel somewhat aggrieved with the manner in which Roberto Martinez broke the deadlock.

The goal came when a deep centre from the home right saw Alan Marriott come off his line before being dumped to the deck after Walters seemed to charge into both him and Nicky Eaden.

As Marriott hit the deck, the ball came out of his hands and, after it was squared back to Martinez, the midfielder calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.

City's response saw Brown have a header from a Nicholson free-kick saved by John Danby after Birley had been crudely upended by Martinez as he broke forward. the Imps' next attack saw Stallard feed Amoo but the latter's shot was diverted behind by the sliding leg of Dave Artell.

This corner led to two more as the Imps upped the tempo but from the second Nat Brown rose but headed well over. Gritton then won flag-kick number seven which also came to nothing.

Scott Kerr tried his luck from long range in the 37th minute after a sweeping move forward ended up with Birley laying the ball back to the midfielder. Grey skies and heavy rain then returned as Marriott held a Blundell snap shot.

A bitty first half continued with the officials earning the wrath of both sets of supporters following a numer of questionable decisions which allowed the game to stop rather than flow.

From one of these, a twice taken Lee Beevers free-kick following a Chester offside, the Imps forced another corner before a late challenge by Sandwith on Amoo saw the home left-back pick up the first caution of the day.

This came two minutes before the Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of 60 seconds were to be added at the end of the opening period. This extra time amounted to nothing but a succession of throw-ins though.

HT: CHESTER 1 IMPS 0

Neither side made any changes at the break so it was as you were as the Imps got the second half underway.

Shortly after the restart, Lee Frecklington was inches away from connecting as he burst into the penalty area whilst at the other end Alan Marriott was well positioned to save a low drive from Gregg Blundell before Jon Walters delayed his ball back into the box.

A clever dummy from Martin Gritton won City the first corner of the second period which was then brought to an abrupt halt after referee Stroud spotted an infingement in favour of the home side. From the resultant free-kick, taken by goalkeeper Danby, the hosts doubled their advantage.

The ball was collected on the right by Blundell and after he advanced forward he picked out strike partner Walters in the danger area. Walters met the ball with a powerful header which crashed on to the crossbar befere bouncing into the back of Marriott. Walters was alert to the situation though and was on hand to blast the loose ball into the back of the net from a foot out.

Chester then won their first corner of the game as the clock entered its 59th minute and after the Imps dealt with that threat, Gritton was felled by Bolland, giving City a free-kick midway inside the Chester half; Nicholson's delivery was well claimed by Danby though.

In the 63rd minute, Adie Moss and Paul Morgan were introduced into the fray in place of Mat Birley and Scott Kerr. This change saw the Imps change to three at the back whilst Nat Brown was pushed forward and it paid immediate dividends as within a minute the Imps pulled one back.

The goal came after Gritton gained possession on the right before cutting back and swinging in a left-footed centre. Up went Lee Frecklington to flick the ball on and there at the back post to bundle the ball home was Nat Brown, who netted in the corresponding fixture last season.

Home defender Phil Bollard was booked after delaying the restart by keeping hold of the ball as it nestled in the net.

City were pumped up now with Stallard having an effort deflected behind for corner number 10 which was hurriedly hacked clear whilst a surging run forward from Beevers saw him exchange passes with Stallard and Brown before seeing his centre sliced out for a throw.

Chester boss Mark Wright brought on Paul Linwood for Simon Marples in the 69th minute whilst a couple of minutes later an Eaden cross flew across a packed six yard area before trickling out for a goal kick.

A Chester free-kick in the 75th minute gave them a chance to calm things down a bit - it also gave them a chance to regain their two goal advantage. Ex-Imp Sandwith fizzed the set-piece in to the box and on hand to head the ball home via the underside of the bar was Gregg Blundell for his third goal of the week.

Three more Lincoln corners came and went without the end product being forthcoming although the third one, in the 80th minute, looked as though it was kept out the net by the hand of a home defender after Stallard prodded it forward.

Chester's response - goal number four which came after Laurence Wilson met a cross from the right before seeing his header loop almost at slow motion over Alan Marriott who could only look on as it nestled in the back of the net.

Paul Mayo was brought on for Shane Nicholson before play could restart with seven minutes remaining and his first contribution saw him pick up a yellow card after leaving his foot in on Stephen Vaughan.

Seconds into three minutes' added time, Lee Frecklington rattled the woodwork from a long range free-kick whilst Adie Moses fired the loose ball into the side netting but the damage had already been done.

FT: CHESTER 4 IMPS 1

MATCH FACTS

LINCOLN CITY
1 Alan MARRIOTT
12 Nicky EADEN
2 Lee BEEVERS
23 Nat BROWN
31 Shane NICHOLSON
14 Ryan AMOO
7 Lee FRECKLINGTON
11 Scott KERR
33 Mathew BIRLEY
9 Mark STALLARD
15 Martin GRITTON

subs
4 Adie MOSES (for BIRLEY 63)
5 Paul MORGAN (for KERR 63)
3 Paul MAYO (for NICHOLSON 82)
6 Richard KELL
13 Simon RAYNER

GOAL: BROWN (64)

BOOKING: MAYO (89)

CHESTER CITY
12 John DANBY
2 Simon MARPLES
3 Kevin SANDWITH
4 Stephen VAUGHAN
5 Phil BOLLAND
21 Dave ARTELL
20 Roberto MARTINEZ
7 Jamie HAND
17 Laurence WILSON
9 Gregg BLUNDELL
14 Jon WALTERS

subs
19 Paul LINWOOD (for MARPLES 69)
6 Sean HUSSEY
16 Dean BENNETT
32 Paul RUTHERFORD
34 Lee STEELE

GOALS: MARTINEZ (20), WALTERS (53), BLUNDELL (75), WILSON (82)

BOOKING: SANDWITH (43)

MATCH OFFICIALS

REFEREE: Keith Stroud (Hampshire)
ASSISTANTS: Steve Castle & Ian Nolan
FOURTH OFFICIAL: John Stokes

ATTENDANCE: 2,142 (317 City supporters)