Lincoln City were narrowly eliminated from the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night as they were beaten 2-1 by Club World Cup champions Chelsea at the LNER Stadium.
Sincil Bank was in fine voice throughout the third round tie and the Lincoln City players responded as Lewis Montsma struck the post two minutes in.
It didn’t stop there as some as a first half dominated by the Imps ended with Ivan Varfolomeev intercepting a risky pass across the Chelsea penalty area.
He then found Rob Street who bent the ball around Filip Jorgensen to put the Imps ahead and put his name alongside the likes of Matt Rhead, Sean Raggett and Terry Hawkridge.
The players recognised how big of an occasion the game was not only for them but also the fans and anyone else associated with the club and did themselves proud.
Speaking after the game Lincoln City striker Rob Street said: “It’s what we wanted to create here, a tough atmosphere for them to play in.
“We put them under a lot of stress and a lot pressure early on but they showed their quality in that five-minute spell. They’re world class players.”
Speaking on the atmosphere Street said: “The fans came in their numbers tonight and they sung all night and it was amazing to play in.”
However, disaster struck early in the second half for the home side as their first half dominance was quickly undone.
Tyrique George levelled things up in just two minutes after the break, before Facundo Buananotte gave Chelsea the lead in the 50th minute as the Imps failed to dispossess the Argentinian.
That was despite the fact that Michael Skubala opted for a back five rather than his usual 4-2-3-1 formation.
The Imps became more direct with a physical front two of Street and Freddie Draper, who dominated in the air all night but just couldn’t find that final finishing touch to level things up.
Street said: “I enjoyed it, it’s obviously where I’m a lot more comfortable playing and I thought we played well all over the pitch.
“We were disciplined as a team, we picked our moments and put them under a lot of stress so on another day maybe could have won it”