A much-changed Lincoln City side picked up their first points of the new season after they beat Gillingham 1-0 at the Priestfield Stadium.
Cian Hughton scored the only goal of the game to lift City off the bottom of the Football League and into 15th place in League Two.
Imps manager Chris Sutton made five changes to his team that lost to Torquay last weekend, some of which were forced. Mustapha Carayol and Gavin McCallum had injuries while Drewe Broughton, Josh O’Keefe and Moses Swaibu dropped to the bench. Captain Scott Kerr was also ruled out through illness.
New signing Ben Hutchinson started up front on his own, with Albert Jarrett playing just off the Celtic loanee. Delroy Facey took an unfamiliar role on the left wing with Hughton on the opposite flank. Jamie Clapham and Clark Keltie occupied the central positions in midfield.
Ian Pearce also came in to bolster Lincoln’s back line and proved to be a calming effect on a City defence which had been at sea in the early part of the season.
Gillingham had gone nine league games without defeat but it was clear they are going to be a troubled side this season. The Gills were hurried in possession and were caught unaware by the Imps’ changes in personnel and formation—adjustments that saw Sutton switch to what was almost a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Crewe Alexandra travel to Sincil Bank next weekend and the Imps will be hoping to enter the game with a new sense of optimism. But their opponents won’t be short of buoyancy either—the Railwaymen thrashed Barnet 7-0 at Gresty Road this afternoon.