Lincoln City lost their third game at home this season, falling to the hands of Chesterfield in the first match of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
A goal by Connor Cook was enough to split the sides in a 1-0 win, with the Imps playing unconvincingly throughout.
Michael Skubala made seven changes from his Lincoln City side that won at Stevenage, with summer signing Erik Ring catching the eye as he made his Imps debut.
First-Half:
Freddie Draper applied pressure on Chesterfield within the first minutes of the match. The striker put a dangerous ball across goal which couldn’t meet a Lincoln attacker, only to receive a cross seconds later. His powerful volley was from a tight angle, though, as Spireite goalkeeper Max Thompson blocked the effort.
The early pressure didn’t last long, however. Chesterfield grew into the game and had their fair share of possession but were unable to do anything real with it.
Jack Moylan had the most chances for Lincoln, all coming from long range. The Irishman found it effortless to get through the Chesterfield midfield, but his shots were always blocked by brave heads or punched away by Thompson in net.
Lincoln did have the ball in the back of the net just after half an hour in. A ball was put across by Rob Street, being followed in by a defender, but the linesman raised his flag for the goal to be disallowed.
With very little to shout about for either side from the first 45, they will both be hoping they can progress and push on for their first positive points in this competition.
Second-Half:
Bailey Cadamarteri made his first appearance for the Imps, as he replaced Rob Street at half time. The Sheffield Wednesday loanee showed real fight, pressing when needed and showing he was well suited to Skubala’s style
Chesterfield took the lead 10 minutes into the second half. A long ball put Bailey Hobson in behind the Lincoln defence and through on goal. Despite a good initial save by Zach Jeacock, the ball could only land to the feet of Cook, who took his time and buried it low, giving the goalkeeper no chance.
From here, Lincoln began to throw all they could at Chesterfield.
The Imps were gifted a golden opportunity as Jamie Grimes failed to clear the ball properly. Dom Jefferies was set through on the right wing, and provided a cross in the box to create danger. The ball fell to Cadamarteri, but the attacker couldn’t truly get his strike away, with the ball falling to Thompson who had to make a quick reaction save to knock the ball away for a corner.
Skubala tried to make tactical changes in the game, introducing Jovon Makama for Tom Bayliss as an attempt to bring the game back and secure some valuable points.
In a final chance for Lincoln, Jefferies beat his man and put a cross in the box aimed for the City bodies. A defender stuck his foot out, and the ball deflected well towards goal. Luckily for the Spireites, Thompson reacted quickly to it, and collected the ball with ease.
Full Time: Lincoln City 0-1 Chesterfield
The result saw Lincoln go without points in their first game of the EFL Trophy. The Imps played well on the ball, but couldn’t do enough in attack to truly trouble the Spireites defence or Thompson in net.
Next up for Lincoln is a trip down the A1 to Peterborough on Saturday, September 14.
Feature Image Credit: Graham Burrell