Lincoln were knocked out of the FA trophy after a 2-0 loss to Alfreton Town in a scrappy encounter at Sincil Bank.
Alfreton took the lead after 20minutes, Farman made a smart save from a Anthony Howell shot, but the ball fell straight to Luke Graham who made no mistake from the rebound.
Alfreton almost made it two ten minutes later when Cliff Byrne’s stooping header hit the post and was scrambled away by the Lincoln defence and the visitors went into the break with the lead.
The imps started the second half brightly and were almost level early in the second half Burrows shot was saved and Tomlinson stabbed the rebound home but the linesman had his flag up for offside.
However, Alfreton doubled their lead just after the hour mark when Tom Shaw linked up with Johnstone before finishing well.
As the half wore on both players and spectators alike began getting frustrated especially with the referees insistence to refer to his pocket and the bookings started racking up. Lincoln did have chances, Nolan had a shot blocked and Willis pulled off a superb stop with his legs to deny Tomlinson, it never seemed likely the imps would be able to break down a well drilled Alfreton back four.
However, Man of the Match for Lincoln Jake Caprice doesn’t think the loss will affect the squads confidence: “We’ve been playing and training so well so hopefully this is just a bump in the road and we can get a result at the weekend and focus on the lead now.”
Manager Chris Moyses said he was disappointed about the way the team lost “I’m very disappointed not just about the way we played but also how we stood up against them, we looked bullied at times and they just wanted it more and we need to be more physical.”
Moyses was also critical of the way the referee handled the game “The referee was booking people for ridiculous things, the game wasn’t dirty I just think he was over-exuberant with his yellow cards.”
The imps now face Kidderminster away next Saturday.
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By Luke Vials
[…] Delano Sam-Yorke is available having served his three match suspension for being sent off in the 1-0 win against Dartford at the end of November, and may replace Jordan Burrow who was substituted at half-time of the 2-0 FA Trophy defeat to Alfreton Town last weekend. […]