A last minute own goal from Ollie Ryan robbed the Imps of a deserved maximum haul against Peterborough United at Sincil Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon after they had taken the lead through League debutant Ben Wright.

Wright gave City the lead shortly before the break when he converted after an Adie Moses header from a Scott Kerr corner crashed against the crossbar.

City battled throughout the 90 minutes with a combination of stout defending and tireless front play making for an entertaining League 2 encounter.

Louis Dodds came close to adding a second in the second half when he fired against the underside of the bar but in the end the Posh grabbed a fortuitous leveller in the final minute when substitute Ryan sliced into his own net as he tried to clear a Jamie Day cross which fizzed across the face of goal, clipping Nat Brown and United's Rene Howe on the way.

Match report by Joihn Vickers at Sincil Bank Stadium:

Strikers Mark Stallard (groin) and Jamie Forrester (hamstring) both missed out through injury for this Coca-Cola League 2 game against Peterborough United at Sincil Bank. Loan defender Hamza Bencherif was left out of the 16 whilst Ben Wright came in for his Imps' League debut to partner the returning Louis Dodds up front. Adie Moses, Lee Beevers and Nat Brown formed a central three at the back either side of Paul Green and Gary Croft whilst Lee Frecklington, Jamie Hand and skipper Scott Kerr started across the middle.

Bright October sunshine greeted the two teams as they made their way out of the tunnel with City under the tutelage of Grant Brown on a caretaker basis following the departure of John Schofield and John Deehan at the beginning of the week.

Posh got the game underway and were quickly on the attack with Charlie Lee making sure he won a free-kick on the right by going down dramatically under Gary Croft's challenge. The visitors made a hash of the set-piece though and Lee Beevers was able to nod the ball back to Alan Marriott.

The visitors were certainly looking for the early kill but City stood firm and broke forward for the first time in the seventh minute thanks to a great run from Croft which saw him beat a couple of United men before finding Dodds. Unfortunately but the ball got tangled under his feet and he was unable to lay it off to Wright in the six-yard box.

Jamie Hand then tried his luck from 25 yards with the ball subsequently squirming under the body of Mark Tyler but the experienced stopper was able to gather at the second attempt to spare his blushes.

The following five minutes or so were spent in the middle third with play turning somewhat scrappy but a free-kick taken by Scott Kerr in the 20th minute saw City come within inches of taking the lead. The dead-ball was played to the back post by Kerr and nodded across by Brown but the final touch from Beevers saw him head inches wide of the upright.

In the 28th minute Croft nutnegged Newton down the left before fizzing the ball in but his centre had just too much pace on it and it evaded the outstretched legs of both Wright and Frecklington. Shortly afterwards Lee required treatment from ex-City physio Keith Oakes after he ran into Wright. This saw Posh boss Darren Ferguson enter the field of play and as such was under close scrutiny from Fourth Official Richard Wigglesworth.

Ten minutes before the break Frecklington came close when he latched on to a Wright flick-on but Tyler flung himself to his left before tipping the ball behind for the game's first corner. Frecklington took the kick himself and it was met by Beevers who saw his header clip Westwood before going behind on the opposite side. This corner ended up with Green seeing his low drive deflec behind after Brown caused problems in the Posh defence. The third flag-kick, however, ended when referee Clive Penton spotted a foul on Tyler by Beevers.

Play switched to the other end and, with Beevers flat out in the middle of the park following an unseen incident, Marriott pulled out a save from the top drawer to tip wide from Aaron Mclean. Beevers looked to be in some discomfort as he got back to his feel and was certainly dazed as he was helped to the sidelines by Michael Wait. With Beevers off the pitch, United wasted the corner before the City man returned to the fray.

City responded with good work from Wright seeing him force corner number four a minute before the break and after skipper Scott Kerr swung in a peach of a delivery, the Imps took the lead. Kerr's ball in was met by the head of Adie Moses who saw his effort crash against the crossbar. There to hammer the ball into the net though was BEN WRIGHT to give City a deserved lead.

In bagging his first for the Club, it meant that summer signing Wright became the 600th different known goalscorer for the Imps in the Football League. It also set up what promised to be a pulsating second half.

HT: IMPS 1 POSH 0

Both sides emerged unchanged for the second period and, as was the case at the start of the first half, it was the visitors who were quick out of the blocks.

The half was just a couple of minutes old when a misunderstanding in the City back-line saw the ball fall to George Boyd but Alan Marriott spread himself superbly to divert the ball behind.

City dealt well with the corner and broke themselves but Frecklington, Dodds and Kerr just couldn't get the ball under control and the Posh defence scrambled clear. United's next move forward saw City throw bodies in the way in a bid to preserve the clean sheet whilst the Imps' response saw Dodds chip over the bar after he latched on to a clever ball forward from Croft.

The Imps pressed forward again in the 55th minute when Frecklington fed Dodds via a clever back-heel. Dodds saw his first effort blocked by the legs of Tyler his follow-up effort crashed against the underside of the bar before being scrambled behind.

Posh boss Darren Ferguson made a change in the 58th minute with striker Craig Mackail-Smith replacing midfield man Micah Hyde and a second change came a minute later when Chris Whelpdale came on for Adam Newton.

Aaron Mclean then took Nat Brown clean out as the City man went to win a long United throw with the late challenge earning the Posh striker a deserved yellow card. Jamie Hand was then flattened following a late challenge by Charlie Lee that went unnoticed by the officials as temperatures threatened to boil over.

The book did come out again in the 73rd minute when Hand went in hard on Mclean and shortly afterwards Wright and Dodds combined before Frecklington's drive clipped a defender before going behind for a corner. Ollie Ryan was then introduced for Wright who received a standing ovation following a highly impressive League debut for the Imps.

At the other end a Posh free-kick led to a United corner which was cleared by Ryan and shortly after this Rene Howe replaced Guy Branston for the visitors. The clock was in its 78th minute at the time of this change.

Posh pressed straight away with a Howe cross ending up with Green deflecting a Jamie Day effort over his own bar and after City dealt with the flag-kick, Steve Torpey came on for Louis Dodds up front. Like Wright, Dodds received an excellent reception as he came off the pitch.

The visitors were certainly pushing men forward with Lee skidding a low shot a foot wide of the target with a just a couple of minutes on the clock whilst a chip from Keates came off the bar before Howe made a mess of his follow-up. United's next attack, though saw them come up with the goods at the death. The goal came when Day gained possession on the left and after he fired the ball across the face of the goal, a pack of players slid in with the ball looking as though it crashed against Ryan before it hit the back of the net.

Ryan Amoo immediately replaced the limping Paul Green before four minutes of added time was indicated. Croft saw yellow for apparent time-wasting whilst City waited to take a throw-in.

A foul on Mclean by Moses gave the visitors a chance from a set-piece and 10 seconds over the four added minutes a questionable handball decidion against Croft meant that the drama wasn't over. City stood firm though as the ball came into the danger area and as the ball was cleared, referee Penton brought an enthralling game to a close.

FT: IMPS 1 POSH 1

MATCH FACTS

LINCOLN CITY
1 Alan MARRIOTT
2 Paul GREEN
3 Gary CROFT
4 Adie MOSES
5 Lee BEEVERS
6 Nat BROWN
7 Lee FRECKLINGTON
11 Scott KERR
26 Jamie HAND
15 Ben WRIGHT
19 Louis DODDS

subs
18 Ollie RYAN (for WRIGHT 76)
10 Steve TORPEY (for DODDS $82)
14 Ryan AMOO (for GREEN 90)
17 Dany N'GUESSAN
21 Phil WATT

GOAL: WRIGHT (45)

BOOKINGS: HAND (73), CROFT (90+3)

PETERBOROUGH UNITED
1 Mark TYLER
7 Adam NEWTON
5 Chris WESTWOOD
4 Craig MORGAN
26 Guy BRANSTON
17 Jamie DAY
11 Dean KEATES
8 Micah HYDE
6 Charlie LEE
10 George BOYD
9 Aaron MCLEAN

subs
12 Craig MACKAIL-SMITH (for HYDE 58)
18 Chris WHELPDALE (for NEWTON 59)
23 Rene HOWE (for BRANSTON 78)
15 Gavin STRACHAN
13 Shwan JALAL

GOAL: RYAN (89 og)

BOOKING: MCLEAN (63)

REFEREE: Clive Penton (Sussex)
ASSISTANTS: David Benton & Mark Hutchinson
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Richard Wigglesworth

ATTENDANCE: 5,036 (1,725 visiting supporters)