Sean Wright’s 62nd minute header was enough to earn his side all three points and the Whites’ first clean sheet of the season.
Last night, Sam Wilkinson’s men went in to the game occupying seventh place in the Evo-stik First Division East with their opponents, Frickley Athletic, in 11th.
When a United corner was swung into the box, Wright rose highest to head the ball across goal into the top right, sending cheers around Ashby Avenue.
The goal had been on the cards for most of the match, with the Whites dominating in both attack and defence, however United will feel they should have scored more on the night.
Frickley refused to give up without a fight, hitting the crossbar following a corner in injury time.
United started well with Andy Hutchinson’s shot going wide after Tom Garrick had his shot blocked.
But Frickley responded with several good attacks, going clean through on goal and scoring – luckily for the home side the Blues were judged to be offside.
Five minutes later, the visitors put together another promising move which resulted in Jacob Hazel’s shot being deflected behind.
Frickley’s number seven, Connor Smith, was proving to be a thorn in United’s left side, cutting and weaving through the defence Whites’ defence on multiple occasions.
United soon started to dominate Frickley. In the 22nd minute some good pressing and defensive mis-communication almost resulted in a disastrous own goal from the visitors’ number five, Jameel Ible.
Over the remaining 20 minutes of the first half, United asserted their dominance. The whites had a succession of set pieces but they didn’t trouble the Frickley defence due to a combination of poor delivery and bad finishing.
Sam Wilkinson’s side went into the break goalless, looking to make that decisive breakthrough in the second half. The Whites took their time to get a foothold in the game but looked bright in the closing stages of the first 45.
Frickley looked to improve in the second half, bringing Jamie McGuire into the game replacing Jack Burton.
However it was the Whites that continued to control proceedings. Kevin Hemagou, United’s second highest goal-scorer this season, was put through on goal in the 55th minute, but he couldn’t open the scoring.
Eventually, in the 62nd minute Wright gave his side the advantage, as a sigh of relief could be heard around Ashby Avenue.
The Whites immediately tried to double their lead, with Garrick sprinting into the box in the 67th minute, unfortunately for the home side he put his shot over the bar.
Throughout the remainder of the second half, Hemagou worked hard to score his fourth of the season. He was causing a lot of trouble by running onto long balls and using his physicality to hold up play in the final minutes. The number nine had several chances to kill the game off, but he could only force easy saves out of Frickley’s goalkeeper, Daniel Wallis.
Kallum Smith played a pivotal role at right-back throughout the game. In the 89th minute he went on a brilliant run, speedily carrying the ball into the Frickley half and charging at their defence, however the attack was cleared eventually cleared.
Frickley threw everything they had at the United goal in the final few minutes, including ‘keeper Wallis coming up for the corner that eventually struck the crossbar, but they failed to draw level.
Full Time: Lincoln United 1-0 Frickley Athletic
United should have scored in the first half with the number of missed chances from set pieces but they managed to kill the game off in the second half. Wilkinson’s side were noticeably the better team and the Whites managed to restrict Frickley to just a few opportunities which is testament to the defensive unit.
The win means Lincoln United have moved up to fourth and into the play-offs in the Evo-Stick First Division East. The Whites will face a challenging encounter away at league leaders Morpeth Town on Saturday. Morpeth have only lost one game this season, but the Whites will be confident that they can create chances following Wednesday night’s game. However, the strikers will have to be more clinical against the league leaders.
Attendance: 196