A dramatic late winner from Franny Green gave Lincoln a 3-2 victory over a spirited Macclesfield.
Lincoln took a first half lead when midfielder Peter Gain smashed home a 25 yard volley after taking it down on his chest.
Macclesfield hit back nine minutes into the second half when George Abbey broke down the right and found Matthew Tipton whose header went in off the post.
Lincoln struck back within two minutes when unmarked midfielder Richard Butcher fired home an unstoppable shot which gave Macclesfield keeper, Boaz Myhill no chance.
The turning point of the game came on 69 minutes when Macclesfield defender Karl Munroe was sent off for a professional foul on Gary Fletcher.
Referee Phil Prosser gave Munroe his marching orders after checking with his linesman to see if he was the last man. Macclesfield kept on going despite being a man down and Lincoln’s Alan Marriott had to make a wonderful save to deny Tipton.
Tipton had grabbed his second goal on 79 minutes when he was left unmarked and turned to beat Marriott with a low shot into the left hand corner.
Ten man Macclesfield looked the more likely to get a winner and missed a great chance when Danny Whittaker broke through the middle and found David Flitcroft.
The former Rochdale midfielder needed only to shoot into an empty net but somehow Marriott got back into his goal and dived onto the ball.
The visitors were made to pay in injury time when Butcher again broke forward and saw his drive deflected past Myhill by the perfectly placed Green.
Myhill was injured during the goal and had to be replaced by substitute keeper Steve Wilson, but there was no time for Macclesfield to stage another come back.
The win extended Lincoln’s unbeaten run to 12 games and set them up for Saturday’s derby clash against high flying Hull City.