The Imps turned in a competent display away at Northwich Victoria on Saturday in front of the ITV camera’s, running out comfortable 3-1 winners.
Northwich started brightly with City looking fragile and unorganised. Ex Liverpool forward Jon Newby had an excellent chance early on, but made a real mess of his effort.
However after fifteen minutes of hearts in mouths football, City began to take control and it was only a matter of time before the opener.
That opener came via the maligned Chris Fagan He might be slight but he has the ability to finish chances with aplomb, and on 18 minutes he did just that. Captain Scott Kerr lobbed a ball over the Northwich defence and Fagan swivelled and finished comfortably. 1-0 City.
The rest of the first half was a relatively dour affair, but the game came to life in the second half.
It was Northwich who nudged themselves back into the game 2 minutes after the restart. Matt Bailey prodded home after some clever work by Newby.
It took the Imps just a minute to put their noses back in front. Yet another pass from revitalised Scott Kerr found Jamie Clarke heading towards goal with Bailey for company. Perhaps the euphoria of the goal clouded Bailey’s ability as Clarke shrugged him off like a common cold and slotted the ball home for 2-1.
The second goal knocked Northwich effectively out of the game, and after that they rarely looked like drawing level again. On 64 minutes Jamie Clarke got his second of the game and ended Northwich’s hopes of a third round tie. For the third time in the afternoon a Scott Kerr pass found Clarke who again lost his defender and slotted the ball home.
The 3,544 (a record for Northwich’s new stadium) then witnessed a confident Lincoln side who never really looked like conceding again.
The result meant City made it into the third round draw for the first time in eleven years, and were paired with Premiership side Bolton Wanderers. A great draw for a club of our size, and LCM looks forward to the trip to the Reebok in the New Year.
Keep an eye out tomorrow for LCM’s story of our second round trip with Poacher the Imp.