City lifted themselves off the foot of the Coca-Cola League 2 table in style, defeating Stockport County 3-1 at Edgeley Park.

Striker Ben Wright set up the victory with two goals early on in the second half; his first coming after County 'keeper Conrad Logan palmed a Dany N'Guessan cross into his path and the second saw him fire in an Owain Warlow centre. Both were excellent finishes.

The Imps looked dangerous throughout the game and Stockport's frustrations grew when substitute Adam Proudlock saw red for a terrible two-footed challenge on Paul Green just 13 minutes after he came on.

Liam Dickinson gave County hope when he rifled home with 10 minutes on the clock but teenager Lenny John-Lewis, on as a substitute for N'Guessan, wrapped up the points just 60 seconds later, latching on to a Scott Kerr throughball before cheekily chipping the ball over the onrushing Logan.

Match report by John Vickers at Edgeley Park:

Manager Peter Jackson made three changes to his starting XI for this Coca-Cola League 2 game against Stockport County at Edgeley Park. One of these changes was enforced with Hamza Bencherif returning in place of the injured Adie Moses, who was forced to hobble out of the FA Cup defeat at Nottingham Forest with a hamstring strain whilst loanee Ben Smith replaced Alan Marriott in goal and Dany N'Guessan came in for Louis Dodds.

Bottom-of-the-table City were up against a Stockport side who went into the game without a home win in six and on the back of four successive defeats on Edgeley Park soil. Add to that an FA Cup exit at the hands of Staines Town and City would be looking to avoid any backlash from that reverse.

Conditions were pretty good as the teams made their way out of the tunnel, led by match referee Carl Boyeson from East Yorkshire.

Stockport kicked off and were quickly on the attack with a David Poole centre clipping Danny Hone before going behind for a corner in the second minute but Ben Smith was able to gather after the ball was played in.

City replied with good link up play between Ben Wright and Jamie Forrester seeing the latter set Owain Warlow free on the left but the Welsh U21 international delayed his final effort and home stopper Conrad Logan was able to gather at his near post.

A second County corner was then headed wide by Liam Dickinson whilst the big striker then latched onto a long ball forward but his challenge on Hone before he fired past Smith was deemed unfair by referee Boyeson and play restarted with free-kick to the Imps.

A seventh minute stoppage to allow treatment to County skipper Gareth Owen, who took a knock to his head, calmed things down a bit following an all-action start and when play restarted a surging run forward from Dany N'Guessan seemed to be halted by a trip by Michael Rose but Mr Boyeson waved play-on.

N'Guessan then fizzed in a shot which was tipped behind by Logan at his near post but the resultant corner was cleared by the home defence.

Stockport seemed keen to play the direct ball up field to Dickinson and only good covering from Bencherif denied the Hatters' front man a run on goal after he linked up with Anthony Elding on the quarter hour mark.

Warlow then seemed to change his mind as he prepared to volley a Wright knock down goalwards; his final effort being a weak centre which was easily mopped up by Owen whilst County's response in the 22nd minute saw them win their third corner.

Smith punched the flag-kick clear and when the ball was picked up by Warlow, he brought the ball forward, supported by a number of colleagues who were sprinting forward. The Welshman wasted what looked to be a great chance though as his attempted reverse ball to N'Guessan crashed straight into the chest of Rose.

Another Stockport corner followed at the other end with Adam Griffin's dangerous delivery flying over a packed area before going behind for a goal kick. A home free-kick then gave the Hatters a chance from a decent position on their right but after Griffin attempted to take it quickly, referee Boyeson was on the spot to brandish a yellow card at the County number 11. When it was taken, Hone rose well to clear.

City's response saw them break down the right and when Green swung the ball in Forrester's header went straight into Logan's gloves. Frecklington then curled a 25-yard effort a foot over and blasted another shot off target as the Imps pressed again.

The Imps were certainly looking the more likely side to break the deadlock as the half reached its final 10 minutes but they had Smith to thank as he jumped well to his right to claim a goal bound Dickinson header.

Five minutes before the interval a free-kick to the Imps gave them a chance from a set-piece midway inside the County half but, again, the final killer ball into the box by City was lacking.

Another City free-kick, taken by Scott Kerr, then just failed to connect with Hone who had ghosted in at the back post whilst at the other end Dickinson saw his low shot well claimed by Smith.

The final action of the opening period saw Frecklington fizz a left-footed effort wide of the right-handed upright after N'Guessan and Wright had teamed up to create the half-chance for the busy midfielder.

HT: STOCKPORT 0 IMPS 0

No changes were made so it was as you were as Mr Boyeson got the second half underway.

City were quick to press with Forrester unlucky not to connect with a ball over the top from Kerr whilst a weak shot from Wright trickled well wide for a goal kick but the latter went better just five minutes after the restart when he fired the Imps in front.

The goal came after County 'keeper Logan was forced to backpeddle after N'Guessan swung in a centre from the right. Although the former Boston stopper managed to stop the ball from dropping undeneath the crossbar, there was WRIGHT to blast an unstoppable volley into the back of the net from a narrow angle.

County looked for a quick response, forcing the first corner of the half but this was wasted by Griffin and the Imps made them pay as, just three minutes after he gave City the lead, WRIGHT came up trumps again when he met a pin-point Warlow centre before firing past Logan with another sweet effort, this time from just inside the box.

Another wasted Stockport corner saw a chorus of boos ring around Edgeley Park as the natives started to get somewhat restless. City, meanwhile, were clearly boosted by Wright's quickfire brace and were started to piece together a number of threatening moves.

County's response to going two down was to make a triple change in the 63rd minute. Off came Greg Tansey, Anthony Elding and Michael Rose and on came Keith Briggs, Adam Proudlock and Tommy Rowe.

Shortly after this changearound, Bencherif headed a Frecklington corner into Logan's gloves whilst the Imps' next attack saw Wright cut in from the left but he delayed his final effort and the home defence were able to clear.

A rare lapse by Bencherif almost gifted Dickinson a goal as the game entered its final quarter but the Stockport striker failed to take advantage, drilling low effort a foot wide whilst a looping centre from Griffin was headed behind by Bencherif for County's sixth corner. The flag-kick ended with Briggs firing wide from Rowe's knockdown.

Danny Hone required treatment after taking a knock to the head; City's protests to referee Boyeson that his County marker had used his elbow to floor the teenager fell on deaf ears though.

A terrible two-footed challenge from substitute Proudlock on Green, however, didn't go unnoticed by the referee in the 76th minute as, after he called the Stockport striker over to him, Mr Boyeson quite rightly produced the red card.

With temperatures threatening to boil over, Dickinson then led with an elbow on Hone, earning the striker a ticking off, before the hosts forced a couple of corners in quick succession and Rowe fizzed a shot through a crowd of players inches wide.

City had to keep their cool as Jason Taylor jumped straight at Gary Croft and in a bid to calm things down, as well as introduce some fresh legs, Imps' boss Peter Jackson brought Lenny John-Lewis on for N'Guessan with seven minutes on the clock.

John-Lewis's first touch saw him lay a ball to Kerr who then released Warlow. The Welshman took the ball forward but with Wright screaming for the ball in the middle, the left-winger went for glory but fired wide. County responded by pulling one back when Poole saw his shot palmed by Smith but the ball went straight to DICKINSON who blasted home.

County promptly pushed men forward in search of an equaliser and the Imps certainly made them pay when Kerr released JOHN-LEWIS. The teenage striker was calmness personified as he took a couple of touches before neatly chipping the ball over the onrushing Logan for what was a superb first ever Football League goal for the 18-year-old.

Skipper Kerr required treatment before play could restart after being on the receiving end of a late challenge as he released John-Lewis and it came as no surprise when he was replaced in the middle of the park by Jamie Hand in the final minute.

Four minutes of added time was then indicated and midway through these added seconds, Smith denied Briggs with a superb one-handed save before Hone cleared to safety.

At the final whistle, manager Peter Jackson headed towards the 191-stong band of travelling Imps' fans before taking the shirt off John-Lewis's back. He then proceeded to wave it in the air before hurling it into the faithful.

FT: STOCKPORT 1 IMPS 3

MATCH FACTS

LINCOLN CITY
28 Ben SMITH
2 Paul GREEN
25 Hamza BENCHERIF
27 Daniel HONE
3 Gary CROFT
7 Lee FRECKLINGTON
11 Scott KERR
8 Jamie FORRESTER
20 Owain WARLOW
15 Ben WRIGHT
17 Dany N'GUESSAN

subs
29 Lenell JOHN-LEWIS (for N'GUESSAN 83)
26 Jamie HAND (for KERR 90)
19 Louis DODDS
21 Phil WATT
1 Alan MARRIOTT

GOALS: WRIGHT (50 & 53), JOHN-LEWIS (86)

STOCKPORT COUNTY
26 Conrad LOGAN
3 Michael ROSE
4 Jason TAYLOR
5 Gareth OWEN
7 David POOLE
9 Anthony ELDING
11 Adam GRIFFIN
15 Michael RAYNES
18 Greg TANSEY
20 Liam DICKINSON
28 Paul TURNBULL

subs
14 Keith BRIGGS (for TANSEY 62)
31 Adam PROUDLOCK (for ELDING 63)
21 Tommy ROWE (for ROSE 63)
16 James TUNNICLIFFE
24 Adam NOWLAND

GOAL: DICKINSON (85)

BOOKING: GRIFFIN (28)

SENDING OFF: PROUDLOCK (76)

MATCH OFFICIALS

REFEREE: Carl Boyeson (East Yorkshire)
ASSISTANTS: Steve Cook & Russell Green
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Jason Tyas

ATTENDANCE: 5,260 (191 City supporters)