Lincoln City bow out of the FA Cup at the first-round stage for the second year running. Goals from Michael Mellon and Tom Bloxham were enough to put Derek Adams’ side into the hat for the second round.
The Imps made three changes to the side that lost 2-0 at home to Oxford United in midweek, with TJ Eyoma replacing the injured Sean Roughan. It was the Englishman’s first start since the penalty shootout victory over Premier League Sheffield United, back in August.
The other two changes saw striker Hakeeb Adelakun return to the starting-11, alongside Ali Smith, who replaced Jack Vale and Alex Mitchell.
For Morecambe, they too made three changes to the side that lost 1-0 away at Barrow. Farrend Rawson, Yann Songo’o and ex-Imp Jacob Davenport made way for James Connolly, Eli King and Adam Mayor.
First-Half:
The visitors started the stronger of the two sides, without creating too many openings, a David Tutonda strike from more than 20 yards out was their only shot of note.
Neither side could test the goalkeepers early on, with City’s best opening being a Lasse Sorensen effort blocked by an excellent sliding challenge from Adam Mayor.
Sorensen wasn’t to be silenced for long as he opened the scoring for the hosts after 14 minutes. An inch-perfect cross from Danny Mandroiu from the left wing found the Dane, who made no mistake with the finish. His effort flicked off his boot and, via the underside of the crossbar, found its way into the net.
Ethan Hamilton could have had at least a brace in the first-half, but on two occasions he couldn’t sort out his feet on the edge of the box, before getting his strike away. One was blocked superbly by Joel Senior, and the other rolled wide on his rebounded attempt.
A flurry of three yellow cards were brandished by referee Martin Coy, all for pulling an opposition player back. City’s TJ Eyoma was first, before the Morecambe duo of Eli King and David Tutonda found their names being taken by the referee.
Danny Mandroiu tested Morecambe goalkeeper Adam Smith with a free kick, but the Shrimps’ number 21 was equal to it.
Just before the break, in the 43rd minute, Morecambe found an equaliser through their most prolific man this season: Michael Mellon. An out-swinging Adam Mayor corner eventually found its way to Mellon, who poked the ball home to level the scores.
Morecambe finished the half stronger, with Jordan Slew forcing a good save from Imps number one Lukas Jensen, following a low, powerful effort from the left side of the box.
Going into the break, Derek Adams would have been the happier of the two managers, with his League Two side being on level terms with the Imps.
Second-Half:
It didn’t take long for there to be action at the start of the second half. After just six minutes, a deep cross found Jordan Slew, and his low volley bounced off the near post from a difficult angle.
Morecambe took the lead moments later, as Tom Bloxham scored. He was found by Eli King, and was composed enough to round goalkeeper Jensen and slot the ball home.
The Imps were slow to wake up to the second half, with Sorensen also being shown a yellow card for a professional foul. Jensen was forced into a smart stop, following an excellent side-footed volley by Bloxham.
Jensen was beaten again by Bloxham just after the hour mark, but defender Adam Jackson was on hand to clear the ball off the line from another Bloxham volley. He was found again by Jordan Slew with a cross to the back post.
Adam Mayor, and Ethan Hamilton were next to catch the attention of referee Coy for a coming together after the Morecambe man fouled Hamiton, picking up another yellow card each.
The Imps pushed forward for an equaliser but could not test Smith in the Morecambe net. Hamiton had an attempt fly wide from 20 yards out, before City hit the post through Adam Jackson. He jumped highest from a Mandroiu corner, but saw his effort rebound off the inside of the post.
Substitutes Dylan Duffy and Jovon Makama combined well before Makama had a header flicked just wide of the far post. Makama went close again as the game rolled into stoppage time, but his flick from a Hamilton corner had the same result and whistled past the post.
After seven additional minutes the Imps could not fashion another opportunity, and did not trouble Smith in the Morecambe net, ensuring they will go no further in the competition.
Lincoln City 1-2 Morecambe:
Lincoln City fell to successive defeats, losing two games in one week and crashing out of the Emirates FA Cup in the first round. The turn for the worse came after interim head coach Tom Shaw started his tenure with a three game unbeaten run.
The Imps are next in action on Tuesday when they welcome Notts County to the LNER Stadium in the EFL Trophy, before welcoming Port Vale in SkyBet League One next Saturday.