Goals early on in either half by title-chasing MK Dons were enough to see them chalk up their 16th away win of the season despite a spirited performance by the Imps at Sincil Bank on Friday evening.

The Dons opened the scoring in the third minute when Carl Regan scrambled home after Alan Marriott had kept out a Mark Wright effort and 10 minutes into the second period substitute Jemal Johnson doubled their advantage when he fizzed a shot past Marriott from 25 yards.

Within four minutes Ben Wright pulled one back after he followed up his shot which crashed against the underside of the bar but despite late pressure, City couldn't find another way past Dons' 'keeper Willy Gueret and it was a relieved visiting contingent who celebrated at the final whistle.

Iffy Onuora made five changes to the side that started the 4-0 defeat at high-flying Peterborough United last weekend for this Friday night Coca-Cola League 2 clash against another title-chasing side, Milton Keynes Dons, at Sincil Bank Stadium.

Two of the changes were enforced with injury ruling out both Paul Green and Lenell John-Lewis but on the plus side, fit-again Lee Frecklington and Lee Ridley were back in the fold. Ridley for Green was a straight swap at left-back whilst Frecklington came in for teenager Martin Pembleton in the middle of the park and Louis Dodds replaced John-Lewis. Nat Brown was dropped in favour of Adie Moses, Danny Hone was rested with Lee Beevers dropping back and Jamie Forrester returned alongside Ben Wright up front.

It was a pleasant April evening as the teams made their way out of the tunnel and once the pre-match formalities had taken place, referee Ray Lee from Essex got proceedings underway with City kicking off and kicking towards the IMPS Stand in the opening period.

The Imps were the first to press with a ball over the top seeing Dany N'Guessan put Dean Lewington under pressure. Just as the big Frenchman was preparing to bear down on goal, Dons' 'keeper Willy Gueret was quickly off his line and out of his area to hack the ball out for a thtrow-in.

Shortly afterwards, and with less than thee minutes on the clock, the Dons took the lead when a ball in from their right saw Mark Wright get a shot in but, after Alan Marriott smothered his attempt, CARL REGAN somehow managed to bundle the ball over the line from six yards out.

The Imps looked to get back into the game quickly with good persistence from N'Guessan seeing him win possession in the middle third but his final pass through to Ben Wright, who was in space on the left, was disappointing with the ball rolling out for a goal-kick.

Wright then hooked a left-footed effort over the bar from the Imps' next foray forward whilst Louis Dodds forced Gueret to save at his near post after the ball was laid into his path by Jamie Forrester.

Just after the quarter-hour mark, Shane Clarke curled a 25 yard effort a foot over the bar as the Imps pressed again and before the resultant goal-kick could be taken, Sean O'Hanlon required a lengthy spell of treatment midway inside the Dons' half. The injury looked somewhat serious with Club Doctor Chris Batty called into action before the big defender was helped off with blood streaming from his nose.

With O'Hanlon off the field, City forced the first corner of the game and before it could be taken, Gareth Edds came on as his replacement a good five minutes after he hit the deck.

Aaron Wilbraham levelled the corner count on the 25 minute mark but a push by Regan as he challenged Lee Beevers saw the game restart with a free-kick to City whilst two more corners were cleared five minutes later as the visitors pressed for a second.

The Imps were more than matching their high-flying opponents, although the killer final ball continued to elude them as the half wore on. They had a chance from their second corner, which was won thanks to Wright's pesistence, but Danny Swailes headed Dodds' delivery clear, whilst a foul by Swailes on Wright gave City the opportunity to create something from a set-piece in the centre-circle. Croft's delivery to Beevers failed to come up trumps though.

At the other end, an innocuous looking centre from Alan Navarro ended with Croft clearing behind for a corner. City held firm though and shortly afterwards, the Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of three minutes was to be added.

Those added seconds passed without incident so it was the visitors from Milton Keynes who went in for their half-time breather a goal to the good.

HT: IMPS 0 MK DONS 1

Whilst the Dons remained unchanged as they made their way out of the tunnel, the Imps made a change prior to the start of the second half with Martin Pembleton replacing Shane Clarke in midfield.

Less than a minute after the restart the experienced Colin Cameron required treatment 20 yards out, the resultant free-kick seeing Keith Andrews force Alan Marriott to tip the ball behind for a corner. With the corner being cleared, Cameron looked to be in some discomfort as he was helped to the dressing rooms and his replacement was the lively Jemal Johnson.

City had Marriott to thank nine minutes after the restart when he saved well from Lloyd Dyer after he had escaped the offside trap before going through one-on-one. Less than a minute later, though, Marriott was beaten when substitute JEMAL JOHNSON let fly from 25 yards; his low effort flying past the City 'keeper, who was perhaps unsighted, at his near post.

Four minutes later City netted themselves to get right back into the game. The goal came when a cross into the danger area was met by the head of Lee Beevers only for Gueret to somehow keep his effort out. The loose ball was then crashed against the underside of the bar by BEN WRIGHT but he was quick to react and prodded home from close range.

The Dons looked for a quick response themselves with Marriott saving well from Dyer after a slip from Ridley whilst at the other end good work from Pembleton and N'Guessan saw the latter win a corner which was scrambled clear by a panicky visiting defence.

N'Guessan then headed a Croft free-kick straight at Gueret before Dons won their seventh corner of the evening. This was taken by Andrews and headed well over by Swailes.

Marriott then saved twice from Dyer and once from a weak Johnson shot whilst at the other end and with a quarter of an hour remaining Frecklington fizzed over from 25 yards.

An injury to Dons skipper Andrews saw another stoppage in proceedings after a City attack was cleared for a throw-in and when play restarted Beevers looped a good cross from Pembleton into Gueret's arms.

With six minutes on the clock, Jamie Forrester made way for teenager Gary King up front whilst a third and final change almost came for the Dons as Jordan Hadfield was set to replace Mark Wright 60 seconds later. This was quite clearly a time-wasting exercise by Paul Ince as he waited for Wright to walk all the way to the touchline before changing his mind. Two minutes later Hadfield did come on, but for Lloyd Dyer whilst Mark Stallard was then given a run out with Louis Dodds making way.

With just 30 seconds of normal time remaining King won a corner on the left but his delivery from the quadrant was headed clear by Wilbraham. Four minutes of added time was then indicated by the Fourth Official.

Midway through these added minutes, N'Guessan was bundled over by Lewington but Croft's delivery was cleared by the Dons' defence and when the ball was played back in again Croft fired over the stand.

This proved to be the last action with the Imps' battling performance deserving of a least a point but it was not to be as the Dons kept up the pressure on Peterborough United at the top of the League 2 table.

FT: IMPS 1 MK DONS 2

TEAM SHEET

LINCOLN CITY
1 Alan MARRIOTT
3 Gary CROFT
4 Adie MOSES
5 Lee BEEVERS
30 Lee RIDLEY
7 Lee FRECKLINGTON
23 Shane CLARKE
17 Dany N'GUESSAN
19 Louis DODDS
8 Jamie FORRESTER
15 Ben WRIGHT

subs
25 Martin PEMBLETON (for CLARKE h/t)
21 Gary KING (for FORRESTER 84)
9 Mark STALLARD (for DODDS 88)
20 Owain WARLOW
27 Danny HONE

GOAL: WRIGHT (59)

MILTON KEYNES DONS
12 Willy GUERET
3 Dean LEWINGTON
4 Keith ANDREWS
6 Sean O'HANLON
10 Colin CAMERON
11 Lloyd DYER
14 Mark WRIGHT
16 Aaron WILBRAHAM
19 Carl REGAN
20 Alan NAVARRO
25 Danny SWAILES

subs
13 Gareth EDDS (for O'HANLON 22)
23 Jemal JOHNSON (for CAMERON 50)
32 Jordan HADFIELD (for DYER 87)
36 Sam BALDOCK
29 Nathan ABBEY

GOALS: REGAN (19), JOHNSON (55)

MATCH OFFICIALS

REFEREE: Ray Lee (Essex)
ASSISTANTS: Steve Castle & Nigel Smith
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Richard Hewitt

ATTENDANCE: 3,896 (528 visiting supporters)