Lincoln City battled to a hard fought victory at The Lamex, with a Jack Moylan penalty enough for all three points at Stevenage.
The Imps travelled to Hertfordshire in search of their first consecutive wins of the new campaign. A statement 4-1 home victory over Mansfield Town last time out brought with it big expectations for City’s first away trip since the opening day.
Michael Skubala made one change from that win with Jack Moylan coming in for his first league start of the season, as Conor McGrandles missed out completely with another injury.
Stevenage came with reasonable confidence themselves, Alex Revell had earned four points from his first three league games in charge of Boro, as he began his second spell as boss.
First-half:
It was the home side who began the game on the front foot, Revell’s side immediately imposing their physicality and balls into channels onto Lincoln, forcing several early set-piece opportunities.
While the Boro attacking momentum was stemmed as the first 15 minutes went on, the Imps still struggled to maintain any kind of sustained possession. Midfield duo Dan Phillips and Louis Thompson were disrupting any kind of rhythm for the more technical Moylan and Bayliss.
The most significant event so far perhaps came on 20 minutes as Dan Sweeney went down with a leg injury. The 30-year-old had to be replaced by former Premier League defender Charlie Goode.
However, the first major chance of the afternoon went the way of Lincoln. Captain Paudie O’Connor rose highest from a Sean Roughan free-kick, but could only head across goal where Dan Butler was there to provide a last-ditch clearing header to prevent his team falling behind.
Moments later though it was Stevenage back on the front foot as their skipper Carl Piergianni was first to a mis-hit cross. His left footed effort narrowly spun wide of the post.
Then on 33 minutes Stevenage simply had to take the lead. Adam Jackson got his bearings all wrong and headed straight into the path of Tyreece Simpson who only had the keeper to beat. He bundled his way past Wickens but fell off-balance and sliced his shot well wide to somehow keep the game goalless.
O’Connor, who was by far Lincoln’s best performer of the firs- half, threw his head in the way of a Jordan Robert’s overhead kick with little time in the half remaining. The Irishman took a kick to the head for his troubles but was okay to continue.
Second-half:
On his 100th club appearance, Sean Roughan went as close as Lincoln had come early on with a free kick which was fiercely struck. The defender’s effort just brushed the far post as it flew wide of Murphy Cooper’s post, who was well beaten.
Michael Skubala then turned to his bench for the first time just before the hour mark. Jovon Makama and Tom Bayliss were replaced by Freddie Draper and JJ McKiernan respectively.
There was a big flashpoint on 65 minutes as Jordan Roberts played through Elliot List. The forward seemed to be through on goal, but a last gasp tackle from Adam Jackson denied the Boro man. There were huge shouts from the home support for a penalty, but the referee deemed it well timed from the Imps defender.
With 70 minutes on the clock the major moment came. JJ McKiernan found himself with some space in the Stevenage penalty area and was brought down by a late Dan Butler challenge. Referee David Rock pointed to the spot without hesitation and Lincoln would have a golden chance to go ahead.
Up stepped Jack Moylan from 12-yards and he calmly dispatched the spot kick into the bottom right corner, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way and giving his side a deserved second half lead.
A number of Stevenage changes followed as Revell looked to throw everything at Lincoln in order to force an equaliser. Harvey White’s introduction brought with it the threat of high-quality set-pieces but an exemplary display from Paudie O’Connor continued, the defender dominated the penalty area.
However, in the dying moments of the game an off the ball altercation caused a big reaction from both captains. After complaints to the referee, O’Connor was shown a second yellow card and sent off.
The Imps will be without their skipper for their next game, but will be happy to pick up all three points on the road.
Stevenage 0-1 Lincoln City:
It was a game of tight margins and physical battles that in truth could have gone either way. A set piece or refereeing decision looked likely to decide it from the off and that was the way it panned out.
Dan Butler will be playing his late tackle on McKiernan over and over in his head this evening as his lapse in judgement was what cost his side a point in the second half.
Lincoln had to ride their luck at times in the first half, but as the game wore on and Michael Skubala’s men grew in confidence they looked more and more good value for the three valuable points they picked up on their travels.
Feature Image Credit: Graham Burrell