The Imps were never allowed to get a foot in the game, despite having far more of the possession, particularly in the second half, and especially after Notts had been reduced to 10 men after influential midfielder Stefan Oakes was red carded.
Both teams had been buoyed by their holiday period successes and Lincoln were roared by a following of over 2,500 and it might have all been so different if their leading marksman Simon Yeo had been able to add to his 25 goals for the season.
His best chance came on 22 minutes when the ball broke kindly for him and, with the anticipated offside flag not being shown, he was through the middle in a one-on-one with home goalkeeper Saul Deeney.
Deeney's save - an extraordinary one - came off his legs and Yeo never again had quite as good an opportunity.
Notts had an early penalty claim rejected by referee Graham Laws when Glynn Hurst went down in the area, but the referee could not disallow a second claim when Paul Morgan pushed Hurst down in the six-yard box.
Julien Baudet sent Lincoln goalkeeper Alan Marriott the wrong way with a drive into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
Lincoln reorganised in the second half and their pressure was mostly unrelenting on the Notts' goal, but clear chances were few and far between with Baudet and Kelvin Wilson playing superbly at the back for Notts.
Though it would have flattered them, Notts spurned the best chance of all which would have doubled their lead and eased the pressure on them. Substitute Steve Scoffham was in the clear and crying out for the ball but both Paul Bolland and Tony Scully failed to deliver and Lincoln were let off the hook.
Lincoln too had penalty claims but these came moments after the assistant referee's flag had been raised for offside.