A deflected Adam Le Fondre effort was enough to dump the Imps out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Don Valley Stadium on Tuesday evening.

In-form Le Fondre, who scored four on his last outing on home soil for the Millers, struck two minutes into the second half with his effort from the edge of the box hitting the unfortunate Moses Swaibu before beating a wrong-footed Joe Anyon between the sticks.

Prior to this blow, City had enjoyed the better of the opening period with skipper Scott Kerr coming close early on whilst Andy Hutchinson curled a 20-yard effort a foot over the bar.

Chances after the interval, however, were few and far between and in the end it was Le Fondre's 47th minute effort which sent the 87 travelling City fans home disappointed and booked his side a place in the second round of the competition.

Match report by John Vickers at Don Valley Stadium:

Manager Chris Sutton made four changes to his starting line-up for this Johnstone's Paint Trophy first round tie against Rotherham United at Don Valley Stadium.

With Albert Jarrett away with the Sierra Leone squad and Ian Pearce, Jamie Clapham and Delroy Facey all rested, in came Andy Hutchinson, Moses Swaibu, Josh O'Keefe and fit again Scott Kerr. Teenager Sam Turner joined Clapham, Facey, Nathan Adams and goalkeeper Paul Musselwhite on the bench.

Pleasant late August weather greeted the two teams as they were led on the long trek to the pitch by referee David Coote and once the two skippers, namely Scott Kerr and Ryan Cresswell, had tossed up things got underway.

The Imps kicked off operating a 4-4-2 formation and within the opening 30 seconds Kerr fizzed a left-footed drive a foot over the bar from the opening attack of the evening.

Apart from Kerr's early effort there was nothing much to report about in the opening stages, although a seventh minute Kevin Ellison free-kick was pushed away by Joe Anyon after Clark Keltie was penalised for a push on Adam Le Fondre.

City's next attack saw Exodus Geohaghon foul Andy Hutchinson on the left flank but Keltie's delivery from the set-piece was poor and the home defence easily cleared their lines.

In the 19th minute Moses Swaibu required treatment following an earlier knock which left him holding his right hip and once he returned to the fray, the centre-back slipped on the turf before clattering Adam Le Fondre, conceding a free-kick in the process.

Shortly afterwards, a good turn by Andy Hutchinson gave the teenager his first sight of goal but his effort from the edge of the area flew a foot over rather than a foot under Jamie Annerson's bar.

At the other end Le Fondre again went to ground, this time under a challenge from Kerr, but fortunately Ellison's delivery was poor and the ball curled well wide for a City goal-kick.

The Imps' response saw Ben Hutchinson play a clever back-heel for Cian Hughton to run on to before he won a corner which was headed behind by Cresswell. The second flag-kick was punched away by Annerson before the United 'keeper claimed Keltie's cross into the box.

On the half-hour mark a timely challenge on Jerry Ani by Paul Green left the Rotherham striker grounded after he stretched to reach a ball over the top and once he recovered from the knock, he headed an Ellison cross well over the bar.

Another stoppage came along nine minutes before the break after Ben Hutchinson was left clutching his head following an aerial challenge with Tom Newey but the first substitution came along in the 40th minute with a limping Paul Green being replaced by Delroy Facey, presumably as a precaution ahead of Saturday's League 2 trip to Chesterfield.

The change saw Cian Hughton drop back to right-back whilst Josh O'Keefe moved to the right to allow Facey to slot in on the left. Facey's first touch saw him win a corner whilst his second saw him head Keltie's flag-kick over the bar. At the other end Le Fondre volleyed well over from distance for the last chance of the opening period.

HT: ROTHERHAM 0 IMPS 0

Whilst City emerged unchanged, a switch at the break for Rotherham saw Luke Ashworth replace Exodus Geohaghon alongside skipper Ryan Cresswell at the heart of the home defence.

Before Ashworth had chance to get his boots dirty, the hosts took the lead as, with 90 seconds of the second half played, Adam Le Fondre tried his luck from just inside the box effort and with Anyon appearing to have his shot covered, the ball took a heavy deflection off Swaibu and trickled into the opposite corner of the goal.

City looked for an immediate response with Ben Hutchinson seeing his header across the area chested by Cresswell for Annerson to palmed away whilst a couple of minutes later the Imps loan striker stabbed just wide after he was played in by Keltie.

At the other end Anyon held on to an Ellison header before Le Fondre won his side's first corner with 58 minutes played. Anyon punched Ellison's inswinging delivery away though and when the ball was pumped back into the box by Newey, Cresswell sliced a shot wide.

The Imps continued to look for a leveller with Facey winning a corner off Cresswell but again that killer touch from the set-piece wasn't forthcoming with Keltie's delivery sailing over a packed area.

A second United change came in the 65th minute with Jerry Ani being replaced by Paul Warne up front whilst a couple of minutes later Ashworth picked up a deserved yellow card after he dragged Ben Hutchinson to the ground. Hutchinson hit the deck again when the set-piece was played in but the officials spotted nothing untoward and play restarted with a goal-kick to the hosts.

A spell of pressure at the other end saw Anyon save a Le Fondre shot with his legs before a Rotherham corner was headed away by Adam Watts whilst shortly afterwards, and in the 76th minute, Nathan Adams came on for Clark Keltie; the switch seeing Adams go on the right with O'Keefe moving inside.

With eight minutes remaining Swaibu saw yellow for persistent infringement as Le Fondre once again went to ground again under the centre-back's challenge. Four minutes later Le Fondre was replaced by Jamie Green.

Time was quickly running out for the Imps, though, and with the hosts happy to take their time when in possession and in substitute Warne they had a player who was using his considerable experience, winning a couple of free-kicks as the 90 minute mark approached.

Just as the Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of three minutes were to be added on, O'Keefe was penalised for a foul on Jason Taylor as the duo went up for a City corner.

City remained in the attacking third as the final minute approached but a chipped centre from Kerr was claimed by Annerson, giving possession back to the Millers, who were happy to keep the ball in their attacking third to see time out.

FT: ROTHERHAM 1 IMPS 0

MATCH FACTS

LINCOLN CITY
1 Joe ANYON
2 Paul GREEN
4 Adam WATTS
5 Moses SWAIBU
3 Joe ANDERSON
8 Clark KELTIE
11 Scott KERR
25 Cian HUGHTON
14 Josh O'KEEFE
22 Andy HUTCHINSON
27 Ben HUTCHINSON

subs
18 Delroy FACEY (for GREEN 40)
24 Nathan ADAMS (for KELTIE 76)
19 Jamie CLAPHAM
21 Sam TURNER
20 Paul MUSSELWHITE

BOOKING: SWAIBU (82)

ROTHERHAM UNITED
30 Jamie ANNERSON
17 Johnny MULLINS
5 Ryan CRESSWELL
22 Exodus GEOHAGHON
3 Tom NEWEY
7 Nicky LAW
8 Jason TAYLOR
4 Danny HARRISON
15 Kevin ELLISON
24 Jeremiah ANI
10 Adam LE FONDRE

subs
14 Luke ASHWORTH (for GEOHAGHON h/t)
16 Paul WARNE (for ANI 65)
12 Jamie GREEN (for LE FONDRE 86)
23 Dean HOLDEN
31 Danny HANCOCK

GOAL: LE FONDRE (47)

BOOKING: ASHWORTH (67)

REFEREE: David Coote
ASSISTANTS: Martin Coy & Scott Duncan
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Adrian Holmes

ATTENDANCE: 1,677 (87 City supporters)