Lincoln City captain Tendayi Darikwa scored a crucial late goal to give his side the lead in an entertaining 3-1 win against Stockport County.
The Zimbabwean international thundered home an 87th minute goal with a first time shot that wrongfooted the goalkeeper, extending the evermore impressive Lincoln City unbeaten run this calendar year.
At full-time, Darikwa said: “I was delighted to score a goal.
“The main thing is the three points however, we will obviously enjoy it and have rest ready for Tuesday night”.
The experienced EFL fullback continues to prove how essential he is to Lincoln’s title bid, only missing one of the 37 league games the Imps have played this season.
Michael Skubala’s side had to overcome tired legs to see out the victory, Stockport had played once in the last two weeks, whilst the Imps have played three times in that same period.
Darikwa said: “The later the game went on fatigue definitely showed a bit, especially into the last 15 minutes.
“We just had to dig deep to find a way to get over the line.”
The early kick off victory adds to a staggering run of form for the Lincolnshire club as the Imps are the only team in professional English football to be on a six game winning streak.
“We are looking to extend the lead” expanded Darikwa, “every game we go into we go into trying to win, we have a cushion on third place, but we need to keep winning as many games as physically possible.”
The EFL Championship seems well within Lincoln’s reach now, as the Imps sit a mighty 15 points clear of third placed Bolton with only nine games left to play.
The last time Lincoln were in the second division was in 1961, with the club only re-joining professional football from the Vanarama National League in 2017.
Darikwa said: “We are only focused on this season, we are not focused on next season at all, we have a job to do to try and get out of this league.
“We have a lot of points to get, and hopefully we can get as many as we can.”
The focus will now shift to the midweek fixture, with the Imps on the road again, this time to the Accu Stadium to face Huddersfield Town. The Terriers sit sixth in the table and will be hoping to add points to help their own promotion bid.