An incident-packed encounter at Chester's Deva Stadium ended with 10-man City securing a 2-1 victory thanks to a first half brace from Jamie Forrester.

The action started as early as the fifth minute when Alan Marriott saved a Kevin Ellison penalty after he was deemed to have dragged John Murphy to the floor, and just 10 minutes later, the City number one was forced off through a hamstring injury he sustained in the pre-match warm-up with Ayden Duffy coming on for his Football League debut.

Duffy's first action saw him pick the ball out of the net when teenager Paul McManus flicked a cross into the top corner but City's response was immediate with Jamie Forrester prodding home the equaliser from close range before he slotted home a second following a fine knock-down by Ben Wright.

Midway through the second half Dany N'Guessan was sent off by referee Paul Melin for a second bookable offence but despite some late Chester pressure, City stood firm and were fully deserving of the three points.

MATCH FACTS

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

subs
13 Ayden DUFFY (for MARRIOTT 16)
27 Danny HONE (for PEMBLETON 75)
21 Gary KING (for FORRESTER 83)
6 Nat BROWN
9 Mark STALLARD

GOALS: FORRESTER (21 & 22)

BOOKINGS: MARRIOTT (4), N'GUESSAN (39), PEMBLETON (45+2)

SENDING OFF: N'GUESSAN (69)

CHESTER CITY
12 John DANBY
25 Kevin ROBERTS
17 Laurence WILSON
27 Shaun KELLY
19 Paul LINWOOD
14 Mark HUGHES
3 Kevin SANDWITH
21 Paul RUTHERFORD
11 Kevin ELLISON
32 Paul McMANUS
9 John MURPHY

subs
22 James VAUGHAN (for KELLY h/t)
33 Glenn RULE (for RUTHERFORD 70)
4 Tony DINNING
36 Andy MITCHELL
23 Phil PALETHORPE

GOAL: McMANUS (20)

BOOKING: HUGHES (72)

MATCH OFFICIALS

REFEREE: Paul Melin (Surrey)
ASSISTANTS: Dean Mohareb & Iain Siddall
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Darren Handley

ATTENDANCE: 2,089 (205 City supporters)