A goal midway through the second half from Stockport County substitute David Poole was enough to earn the Hatters the three points at a soggy Sincil Bank on Saturday afternoon.

Poole rifled home what turned out to be the winner after City failed to deal with an inswinging corner in a match which was very scrappy and littered with stoppages.

The closest City came was in the final minute when Stockport 'keeper John Ruddy somehow kept out a deflected Jamie Forrester effort.

Match report by John Vickers at Sincil Bank Stadium:

Mark Stallard returned from suspension to take Ben Wright's place alongside Jamie Forrester in attack for this Coca-Cola League 2 clash against play-off chasing Stockport County at Sincil Bank.

Stallard's comeback saw Wright drop to the bench where he was joined by goalkeeper Ayden Duffy, second year scholars Gary King and Martin Pembleton and full-back Lee Ridley, who had missed the last two games due to a hamstring strain.

Despite the forecast of heavy rain, conditions were somewhat pleasant as the teams were led out of the tunnel by referee Graham Horwood from Bedfordshire. City kicked off attacking the IMPS Stand.

The game was five minutes old when the first half-chance came along; Liam Dickinson twisting and turning past Danny Hone before firing goalwards. Alan Marriott saved City though as he diverted the ball behind via an outstretched leg.

A number of early stoppages did nothing to aid the flow of the game, whilst a decision by the assistant referee to keep his flag down despite both Dickinson and Tommy Rowe both looking to be offside forced Marriott to dash off his line to clear the danger.

Dickinson was in trouble with referee Horwood on a couple of occasions after going in late on both Hone and Lee Beevers whilst an apparent elbow from the Stockport striker on Hone went un-noticed on the quarter-hour mark. In fact, Mr Horwood gave the decision in the visitors' favour! Fortunately, Marriott was well positioned to claim Michael Rose's effort from the dead ball.

More questionably officiating then saw a ball forward set Dickinson - who was clearly offside - through but Mariott stood tall and blocked his eventual effort. Iffy Onuora and Grant Brown were none to chuffed on the sidelines as they went to question the man with the checked flag.

With Louis Dodds and Dany N'Guessan switching flanks, the former picked out Mark Stallard only for him to head wide. Shortly afterwards, N'Guessan was on the attack with a surging run down the left seeing him force the Imps first corner of the game. The flag-kick came to nothing though and City were forced on the defensive from the resultant counter-attack.

City replied with Dodds having a effort charged down before Stallard's follow-up effort on the turn flew just wide whilst at the other end Dickinson required treatment after staying on the deck after a County attack broke down.

Stockport's Anthony Pilkington then required attention after coming off second best in a challenge with Shane Clarke. When play resumed, a neat move ended with N'Guessan having a shot deflected over from 25 yards. Dodds' subsequent delivery ending with Clark prodding just wide.

The last 10 minutes or so of the opening period were very scrappy whilst the three added minutes also passed without incident so it was as you were as referee Horwood blew for the break.

HT: IMPS 0 STOCKPORT 0

Both sides emerged unchanged for the second period and with heavy drizzle now starting to fall, County got the game underway again.

City had the first half-chance of the second half when a free-kick from the left ended with Hone flicking wide of the target after the ball found its way to the teenage defender at the back post.

Good work from Clarke then saw him barge his way forward before he played in Dodds who shot just wide on the turn whilst a 53rd minute tug on Kerr by Dominic Blizzard then earned the Stockport player the game's first yellow card.

David Poole replaced Anthony Pilkington for the Hatters three minutes later as James Smith received treatment on the touchline whilst some superb defending from Beevers saw him deny Dickinson a run on goal after the flag stayed down yet again.

Forrester and Dodds both dragged efforts wide as the noise levels stepped up a gear inside the stadium and in a bid to calm things down, Dickinson went to ground again rubbing his head, forcing referee Horwood to bring things to a halt.

Play was stopped again when Green swung in a free-kick; Danny Hone ending on the floor after a clutch of players went for the ball. Gary Dicker then made way for Adam Proudlock for the visitors.

A spectacular effort from Forrester saw him fire an overhead kick inches over the bar following a Stallard knock-down. Stockport's response saw them win their second corner of the afternoon and from it they grabbed an underved opener in the 68th minute.

Marriott seemed to have cleared the danger as he punched clear under pressure from a couple of players but as City hesitated, substitute DAVID POOLE was on hand to drill a low effort through a crowd of players with the ball taking a slight deflection before hitting the back of the net.

The drizzle had turned to heavy rain to add to the misery and hopes of a quick leveller were dashed when N'Guessan drilled over after a great lay-off from Stallard created the opportunity.

Stockport responded by winning another corner which was claimed at the near post by Marriott. City then made a change with Gary King coming on for his Football League debut in place of Louis Dodds. The clock was showing 76 minutes played at the time of the switch.

A couple of minutes later City pressed with Green winning a corner but when King played the ball in after his initial delivery was cleared back to him, Forrester's flick was claimed by Ruddy.

Ben Wright replaced Mark Stallard in the 79th minute and he was quickly in the action, crossing for Forrester who set up Kerr who promptly fire over the bar. At the other end Proudlock fired wide, although referee Horwood deemed that Marriott got his fingers on the ball before it went behind. The corner was claimed by the City number one so justice was done.

The ball just wouldn't run at the other end of the field with a number of attacks coming to an abrupt halt. Scott Kerr was then cautioned for a late challenge on Poole. Ashley Williams then joined the collection of County players who required treatment. Once Williams was helped off the pitch, King threw the ball back to Ruddy but a lapse in concentration saw the 'keeper try and trap the ball only to divert it behind for a corner. County held firm though.

City kept pressing with a last minute N'Guessan centre nipped off Wright's feet and out for another corner. A minimum of five added minutes was then indicated with Stockport winning a corner in the opening seconds of that additional time.

Play switched to the other end with a Forrester shot clipping a defender's boot only for Ruddy to produce a fine save whilst wrong-footed. A second-sapping substitution saw Dickinson make way for Michael Raynes as the game approached its conclusion.

Once a poor pass forward from Clarke sailed straight out of play for a goal-kick, referee Horwood blew for time with Poole's effort midway through the second half earning the Hatters the points.

FT: IMPS 0 STOCKPORT 1

TEAM SHEET

LINCOLN CITY
1 Alan MARRIOTT
6 Nat BROWN
5 Lee BEEVERS
27 Daniel HONE
2 Paul GREEN
11 Scott KERR
23 Shane CLARKE
17 Dany N'GUESSAN
19 Louis DODDS
8 Jamie FORRESTER
9 Mark STALLARD

subs
21 Gary KING (for DODDS 76)
15 Ben WRIGHT (for STALLARD 79)
25 Martin PEMBLETON
30 Lee RIDLEY
13 Ayden DUFFY

BOOKING: KERR (85)

STOCKPORT COUNTY
24 John RUDDY
3 Michael ROSE
4 Jason TAYLOR
5 Gareth OWEN
6 Ashley WILLIAMS
8 Gary DICKER
17 Anthony PILKINGTON
20 Liam DICKINSON
21 Tommy ROWE
30 Dominic BLIZZARD
32 James SMITH

subs
7 David POOLE (for PILKINGTON 56)
31 Adam PROUDLOCK (for DICKER 66)
15 Michael RAYNES (for DICKINSON 90+5)
11 Adam GRIFFIN
26 Conrad LOGAN

GOAL: POOLE (68)

BOOKING: BLIZZARD (53)

MATCH OFFICIALS

REFEREE: Graham Horwood (Bedfordshire)
ASSISTANTS: Christopher Reeves & Paul Thompson
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Craig Evans

ATTENDANCE: 4,544 (819 visiting supporters)