Ten-man City slipped to a narrow defeat against Wycombe Wanderers at a wet Adams Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Imps were forced to play over an hour of the game with just 10 men after Ollie Ryan was shown a straight red card by referee Graham Salisbury after his challenge on Will Antwi was deemed worthy of a dismissal by the Lancashire-based official.
Wycombe took full advantage of the extra man as six minutes before the break veteran striker Scott McGleish netted from close range after he got on the end of a Gary Holt centre but City continued to battle as they went in search of an equaliser.
Teenager Lenny John-Lewis had the best of the opportunities in the dying stages when fellow substitute Hamza Bencherif fired a cross into the box but the striker was at full stretch and couldn't direct his effort goalwards as the ball flew a foot wide.
Match report by John Vickers at Adams Park:
Manager Peter Jackson made three changes to the side that started against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup sponsored by E.ON last weekend for this Coca-Cola League 2 game against Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park.
The first change came in goal where new loan signing Ben Smith replaced Alan Marriott who, until today, had been the only ever-present for City this season. The other two saw Dany N'Guessan and Jamie Forrester miss out through injury with Ollie Ryan and Owain Warlow coming in as their respective replacements.
Another chilly afternoon greeted the teams as they made their way out of the tunnel and it was the hosts who got the game underway.
It was a pretty quiet opening in terms of attempts at goal but both sides were certainly up for the encounter and seemed quick to establish themselves early on in proceedings.
In the ninth minute good work from Ollie Ryan saw him whip in a centre towards Louis Dodds only for Will Antwi to nip in and clear his lines whilst at the other end former Notts County midfielder Stefan Oakes dragged a long range effort closer to the corner flag rather then the net.
The first real chance of the game came in the 18th minute when Lee Frecklington fizzed a 30-yarder a couple of feet over the bar after the midfieder gained possession midway in the Wycombe half
Ryan then came close to latching on to a deft lob over the top by Scott Kerr after an Adie Moses free-kick fell to the City skipper but in the 27th minute the Imps' striker was at the centre of the action for the wrong reasons when he went in on Antwi close to the touchline.
His challenge was perhaps mistimed rather than malicious, but referee Graham Salisbury deemed that his studs were showing and malicious and out came a straight red card, much to the amazement of the City bench and the travelling band of supporters behind the goal.
Almost straight away Wycombe went on the attack with a Sergio Torres cross finding Martin Bullock who crashed a volley against the crossbar and as Torres went for the loose ball he went in extremely high on Paul Green. Mr Salisbury was content to settle for a yellow on this occasion.
Seven minutes after his booking Torres fired a foot wide from the edge of the box whilst a blatant header behind by Moses ended with referee Salisbury amazing everyone by giving City a goal-kick. City responded with Wright firing wide after he brought a Gary Croft ball forward under control with his chest before shooting on the turn.
Within a minute the hosts were in front when Bullock and Gary Holt exchanged passes before the latter played the ball into the danger area where SCOTT McGLEISH had the easy job of firing past Smith. The game was in the 39th minute when the net bulged.
The goal saw the hosts step things up in a bid to grab a second before the break and only good goalkeeping from Smith saw him claim a McGleish centre under pressure from Holt and excellent covering from Croft saw him clear the ball as McGleish swapped passes with the advancing Leon Johnson.
The only action of note in the one added minute that was indicated saw Smith save low to his left after Bullock fired goalwards.
HT: WYCOMBE 1 IMPS 0
Light rain during the interval made for a slippy surface at the start of the second period and before play restarted, referee Salisbury had a chat with Neil McDonald on the touchline after the official gave the 'thumbs-up' to the City fans who greeted him with a not so warm welcome.
The game's first corner came along 50 seconds after the game restarted when a Torres centre was tipped over his bar by Smith and after this was cleared Torres headed a Bullock cross well wide.
City withstood the early Wanderers' pressure and with Wright the lone man up front for the Imps, the majority of the opening five minutes of the second half were spent in the Lincoln half.
Stockley fizzed an effort just over before Moses got in a great block on McGleish following a Wycombe counter-attack after Matt Bloomfield had charged down a Kerr shot. Torres then jinked his way forward before slicing well wide.
A foul on Wright by Johnson gave the Imps a chance from a decent set-piece position but Green's ball to Hone had too much pace on it and the young centre-back could only head behind. Hone then yeaded over at the other end after Russell Martin drilled in a centre from the right.
Wycombe's next attack saw Smith palm a Stockley shot away to safety as the hour mark passed whilst Frecklington managed to deflect a left-foter from Oakes out for a corner.
A double change for the Imps midway through the second half with Jamie Hand and Lenny John-Lewis coming on for Owain Warlow and Louis Dodds. The change saw Hand sit in front of the back four whilst John-Lewis went up front to partner Ben Wright.
Shortly after this switcharound, Torres saw his long range effort beat Smith before it crashed against the post and away to safety. City's response saw Green chip a free-kick into the box where Wright was appeared to be held down by Antwi as the went up for the ball.
At the other end good defending by Hone saw him block a Bloomfield shot out for the hosts' fourth corner of the game and after City cleared their lines, Wright won a free-kick midway in the Wycombe half. Croft swung the dead ball into the mix and when it was half-cleared Frecklington sent a looping header well over.
Heavy rain was now coming down as Moses bundled McGleish in the back, giving the hosts a free-kick 10 minutes from time. Oakes took the kick but it skidded well wide before McGleish made way for John Sutton.
Hamza Bencherif then came on for Danny Hone for City, the big Algerian being thrown on up front and his second touch saw him send in a cross which was cleared behind for the Imps' first corner of the game. The flag-kick came to nothing though as Moses headed Frecklington's delivery wide, although the ball appeared to take a deflection on its way.
Three minutes from time Stefan Oakes was replaced by Andre Boucaud for the hosts and shortly after this, Scott Kerr was cautioned for a late challenge on Martin Bullock.
Just after the Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of two minutes were to be added, a dangerous Bencherif ball into the middle was met by the foot of John-Lewis but the teenager, at full stretch, saw his effort go a foot wide.
This proved to be the final chance as referee Salisbury brought proceedingsto an end. No doubt the main talking point amongst the City fans on the way home would be the first half dismissal of Ryan which proved to be a crucial turning point in the game.
FT: WYCOMBE 1 IMPS 0
TEAM SHEET
LINCOLN CITY
28 Ben SMITH
2 Paul GREEN
4 Adie MOSES
27 Daniel HONE
3 Gary CROFT
7 Lee FRECKLINGTON
11 Scott KERR
19 Louis DODDS
20 Owain WARLOW
18 Ollie RYAN
15 Ben WRIGHT
subs
26 Jamie HAND (for WARLOW 68)
29 Lenell JOHN-LEWIS (for DODDS 69)
25 Hamza BENCHERIF (for HONE 83)
14 Ryan AMOO
1 Alan MARRIOTT
BOOKING: KERR (88)
SENDING OFF: RYAN (27)
WYCOMBE WANDERERS
34 Frank FIELDING
4 Russell MARTIN
20 Leon JOHNSON
5 Will ANTWI
10 Matt BLOOMFIELD
11 Martin BULLOCK
22 Sergio TORRES
25 Sam STOCKLEY
15 Gary HOLT
17 Scott McGLEISH
8 Stefan OAKES
subs
16 John SUTTON (for McGLEISH 82)
31 Andre BOUCAUD (for OAKES 87)
18 Craig WOODMAN
32 Reuben REID
36 Rab DOUGLAS
GOAL: McGLEISH (39)
BOOKING: TORRES (29)
MATCH OFFICIALS
REFEREE: Graham Salisbury (Lancashire)
ASSISTANTS: Andy Davies & Eric Mackrell
FOURTH OFFICIAL: David Phillips
ATTENDANCE: 4,297 (288 City supporters)
