Lincoln City began life without Gary Simpson with a 2-1 defeat by Altrincham at Sincil Bank.
On the stroke of half time, Simon Richman gave the visitors the lead with an exquisite finish from 20 yards out.
The visitors started the second half brightly and deservedly doubled their lead when Damian Reeves headed in.
The new Lincoln management duo of Grant Brown and Chris Moyses brought on Ben Tomlinson and Conner Robinson and the latter got the hosts back into the game with a cute chip over David Parton in the Altrincham net.
The Imps pushed for an equaliser and missed two glorious chances late on as both Miller and Burrow couldn’t find the target with headers.
Following a rather controversial build up to the game, the Imps began the game the brighter side.
Power and Burrow were brought in to the team following Lincoln’s 3-3 draw at Forest Green in a new look 4-4-2 formation under the new management.
The Imps started the game the brightest and it took only seven minutes for the ball to hit the back of the net. Jordan Burrow head home Newton’s cross from an offside position.
Altrincham, however, had the majority of the play in the second half and tried to take advantage of Lincoln’s vulnerable defence.
Sean Newton stopped their best chance as he expertly tackled Richman who was one on one with Paul Farman.
Altrincham continued to pile on the pressure and created another good chance this time through Jamie Lawrie. He got on the end of a fizzed cross but couldn’t convert his effort goalwards.
Lincoln were reduced to shots from outside the area with audacious strikes from Audel, Burrow and Newton who were all trying to break the deadlock.
In a game that became very long ball orientated, a stunning goal broke the deadlock. Simon Richman’s sparkling run caused problems for the Imps defence until he curled a sensational strike past Farman into the top corner.
The second half couldn’t have got off to a worse start for Lincoln’s caretaker manager, Chris Moyses as Altrincham doubled their lead.
Lincoln’s shaky defence left Damian Reeves unmarked who headed home a cross from inside the penalty area.
At 2-0 Lincoln looked dead and buried, but the substitutions made by Moyses changed the game. Tomlinson and Robinson came on and the Imps started creating more chances.
Two fell for Tomlinson, before Robinson pulled a goal back for Lincoln.
Connor Robinson latched onto a long ball forwards and expertly chipped the ball over the on rushing Parton.
After their goal, Lincoln never looked back and searched for an equaliser. Tomlinson had a low drive saved well by Parton as well as Power firing a half volley over the bar.
Lincoln should have levelled in the last ten minutes. Two clear cut chances fell to both Miller and Burrow.
Newton whipped in a free kick and found Miller two yards in front of goal. His powerful header somehow went agonisingly past the past to the dismay of the Lincoln faithful.
Almost straight after another teasing Newton cross was met by Burrow. Once again from two yards out. But his attacking header bounced over the bar leaving the score at 2-1.
Lincoln continued to press but couldn’t create anymore golden opportunities and Moyses and his team sunk to their first defeat in charge of the Imps.
Lincoln City caretaker manger Chris Moyses:
“For the whole of the first half I thought we were off it, completely from the top to the bottom, and I will take the blame for that. We changed to a system and it didn’t work for us.”
“They worked very hard, can’t take that away from them, they did very well. We weren’t at it, we spoke about it at half time, hence the changes.”
“I thought for the last 25 minutes we had a go when we got Conner, Jake and Tommo on, we looked lively, we moved the ball a bit better and we look more of a threat.”
“It is difficult. We’ve got different ideas to previous managers and we’ll stick with them. We changed system tonight which didn’t particularly work well in the first half but I thought when we went to 433 we looked a lot better.”
Player ratings
- Paul Farman – 6 – Made some good saves and his distribution was excellent. He could do nothing about the goals they conceded.
- Tom Miller – 5 – Looked slightly vulnerable defensively and did not get forwards as much as he would have liked.
- Nat Brown – 5 – Looked vulnerable at the back had a couple of mistakes in him and was saved a few times by his defensive partner.
- Thierry Audel – 6 – Lead well at the back and made some vital interceptions but made some mistakes in the first half.
- Sean Newton – 6 – His crossing and set pieces on the whole were very dangerous. Made some good tackles and was not challenged too much defensively.
- Arnaud Mendy – 5 – Never really seemed to get into the game, are some good interceptions but his touch was poor.
- Alan Power – 6 – He started off the game excellently. Looked creative and put himself about, although in the second half he seemed to disappear.
- Karl Ledsham – 6 – He was strong on the ball and looked bright but never seemed to create anything going forwards.
- Jordan Burrow – 5 – He won a couple of headers and should have scored but did not seem to do much else.
- Hamza Bencherif – 5 – Didn’t seem to involved in the game.
- Delano Sam-Yorke – 5 – He chased down balls and put himself about but never really seemed to get any luck.
Subs:
- Ben Tomlinson – 7 He came on and looked sharp. He created a lot of chances and looked threatening in front of goal.
- Conner Robinson – 8 – Game changer. He created chances and scored a magnificent chip. (Linc Sport Man of the Match)
- Jake Caprice – 6 – Looked good going forwards once he came on, but slightly weak defensively.