Lincoln City overcame Hyde 3-0 with three second half goals to move within 1 point of the play off positions.
A header from Ben Tomlinson and two goals from substitute Bohan Dixon gave Gary Simpson’s team a much-needed win following back-to-back defeats.
Both sides cancelled each other out in attack in the opening few minutes but Alan Power was making his presence felt with an early cross and a free kick which was palmed away.
With twelve minutes gone, a long Andrew Boyce free kick dropped to Jon Nolan but the midfielder failed to make clean contact while at the other end Nat Brown had to be alert to shut out Hyde’s Liam Tomsett, who linked up well with Scott Spencer.
Imps striker Ben Tomlinson was also lively up front, latching onto a through ball before being kept at bay and his flick on from a throw-in was also cleared.
Despite the lively work from both sides, it took until the 18th minute for either side to manage a shot on target when, following a counter attack, Hyde’s Josh Brizzell struck a shot from 25 yards straight at Paul Farman.
Minutes later, Tom Collins became the next Hyde attacker to test Farman, but his scuffed effort was never going to trouble the goalkeeper.
Hyde’s Will Haining was key to keeping Lincoln out in the first half, and the experienced centre back cleared a Ben Tomlinson cross and slid in on Todd Jordan to deny him a tap-in.
With half an hour gone, Lincoln managed their first meaningful shot when Andrew Boyce had his header from Tom Miller’s cross tipped over.
Two minutes later, Hyde tried their luck from range again with Farman forced into another save from Tomsett’s 30 yard screamer and the Imps goalkeeper was nearly beaten again from distance when Martin Devaney’s rocket shot fizzed narrowly wide.
Sean Newton put in several crosses during the first period and his cross late in the first half just needed a touch as it flashed across the goalmouth.
Tom Collins of Hyde and Alan Power of Lincoln both lined up efforts from far out at the end of the first half. Collins’ free kick was tame, but was saved by Farman while Power’s effort went a long way wide.
Lincoln began brightly in the second half and got their reward. Sean Newton’s corner from the right was headed in by Ben Tomlinson to put The Imps 1-0 up and gave the striker his fifth goal of the season.
The goal galvanised the Co-op stand and the Imps continued to press forward but their attacking efforts came to nothing in the minutes following the goal.
Hyde then introduced Sheffield Wednesday loanee Emmanuel Dieseruvwe, who replaced Adam Blakeman, and the youngster worked hard for the visitors.
The Imps had further chances from Andrew Boyce, who headed over from a corner, and Jon Nolan, who shot straight at the goalkeeper Adam Liversidge.
Devaney put in a good shift for Hyde, taking a corner which Will Haining headed over, and set up Liam Tomsett whose effort brushed the post on its way wide.
Hyde introduced loanee Louis Almond but despite some decent moments, it was Lincoln who took control of the game.
After introducing Bohan Dixon, they doubled their lead. Power’s corner was turned in by the substitute to make it 2-0.
Paul Farman had to deny Alex Brown for Hyde as they pushed again for a goal but it was another set piece which proved their undoing.
Power again took the corner and Dixon flicked the ball in to seal a triumphant victory for the Imps, who celebrated their goal among protests from Scott McNiven’s side.
Late substitute Jake Sheridan got booked in stoppage time after fouling Tomsett but it did not take the gloss off a good afternoon.
Attendance: 2311 (44 visitors)
Player ratings:
Paul Farman 7- held onto the ball whenever he needed to and was strong in goal
Tom Miller 6- was not afraid to push forward and performed solidly
Andrew Boyce 6- pushed up for set pieces and arguably had more impact in the opponents box
Nat Brown 6- kept calm when he needed to
Sean Newton 6- put in crosses and ran effectively on the left hand side
Mo Fofana 5- had a fairly quiet game and was substituted
Jon Nolan 6- was a decent presence going forward and worked fairly hard in midfield
Todd Jordan 6- strong enough game on the left side of midfield and went down with two injuries
Alan Power 7- two assists and played well in the midfield. A good game for him
Nick Wright 7- ran well and chased after the ball in attack
Ben Tomlinson 7- MOTM. deserved at least one goal and like Wright, chased down the ball well and worked hard
Substitutes
Bohan Dixon 6- his two goals sealed the win and didn’t have much to do otherwise
Jake Sheridan 5- did not get long enough to make an impact. Booked.
Luke Foster 5- like Sheridan, he didn’t get much time to do anything significant
Post match – Max Mclean and an exclusive interview with Ben Tomlinson by Daniel Baker
Lincoln manager Gary Simpson pointed out that many simply expected Lincoln to take the three points, “The expectations are that we should go out there and win. We needed the goal to settle us down.”
He did though make it clear who he though deserved the win, saying “To be fair I thought we were worthy winners. We could’ve score more.”
In a gruelling season though, Simpson admitted that it was the win rather than the style that pleased him, saying “It wasn’t so much the performance today; it was that we needed the points to be honest. Three goals, a clean sheet, we move on.”
Double goal-scorer Bohan Dixon acknowledged the need for Lincoln to get their heads down and continue their good start, saying “We just have to keep going don’t we.”
On his goals, Bohan said “The first one, I was shocked that it went in” and was equally perplexed by the strange circumstances that led to his second, saying “The second one, I don’t know what happened, but it seemed like everyone stopped.”
Lincoln move up to seventh on 20 points, and Dixon seemed relieved Lincoln had got back to winning ways.
“I’m made up, I’m buzzing. I’m glad we got the three points”
Lincoln City’s Ben Tomlinson came out of the tunnel to face the media after their win against Hyde – wearing just a towel.
The striker, who was named Man of The Match, stepped out of the dressing room to speak after scoring the Imps first goal in their 3-0 triumph.
His strike took his goal tally to five in twelve league appearances but Tomlinson told The Linc he wants to increase his goals-to-games ratio.
“Five in twelve is one behind where I’d like to be. I’d like to be [scoring] six in twelve. I class myself as a one in two striker,” he explained.
Tomlinson, who played the full ninety minutes, admitted he was feeling exhausted after the match and said: “I think at one point I nearly passed out!”
Lincoln City will play Nuneaton Town away in their next fixture on Saturday, October 5th.