The Imps came from behind to earn a point against Grimsby Town at Sincil Bank with a keenly-contested local derby ended all square at one apiece.
City fell behind seven minutes before the break when Peter Till found himself in space on the right before cutting in and curling an effort past Rob Burch whilst the closest the Imps came in the opening period was a Lenny John-Lewis header against the bar and a shot from Lee Frecklington which was brilliantly kept out by Phil Barnes in the Town goal.
The Imps had to wait until the 73rd minute for the equaliser and it came from the spot after Sam Mullarkey, only on the field for three minutes as a replacement for Kevin Gall, was upended by Tom Newey. Lee Frecklington promptly sent Barnes the wrong way from 12 yards.
Match report by John Vickers at Sincil Bank Stadium:
Frank Sinclair and Stefan Oakes both returned from their respective calf injuries to take their place in the starting line-up for this Coca-Cola League 2 derby clash against Grimsby Town at Sincil Bank Stadium.
Sinclair came in for Lee Beevers in the centre of defence whilst Oakes returned at the expense of Scott Kerr who was absent with a back strain. With skipper Kerr out of the equation, Oakes took over the captain's armband a week before his 30th birthday.
Warm and muggy conditions greeted the two teams as top flight official Lee Mason from Lancashire led them out of the tunnel for the now-customary pre-match handshakes.
After New signing Adrian Patulea - who was still awaiting international clearance - was introduced to the crowd, City kicked off attacking the IMPS Stand in the opening period and began the game with Dany N'Guessan on the left and Lenny John-Lewis on the right.
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STARTING FORMATION | |||
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BURCH | |||
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GREEN |
KOVACS |
SINCLAIR |
BROWN |
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N'GUESSAN |
FRECKLINGTON |
OAKES |
JOHN-LEWIS |
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WRIGHT |
GALL |
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It was down the left that the Imps pressed first with the over-lapping Aaron Brown winning a free-kick and when Oakes whipped in a quick centre, the ball was cleared by Ryan Bennett.
City continued to enjoy the better of the opening exchanges with Grimsby 'keeper Phil Barnes fortunate to see his weak clearance squirm away from Oakes with the midfielder's eyes lighting up as he prepared to fire goalwards from within the centre-circle.
The Imps' next attack saw Tom Newey clear under pressure from Kevin Gall whilst a late challenge on Paul Green by Nick Hegarty in the 11th minute saw the Mariner pick up the game's first caution. After Oakes' corner was cleared, a Grimsby counter-attack ended with Nathan Jarman firing straight at Rob Burch.
John-Lewis won the first corner two minutes later which ended with Barnes punching out for a throw-in under pressure from Ben Wright whilst a peach of a cross from Oakes saw him come close to picking out Wright but Bennett's clearing header looped into Barnes' arms.
At the other end a deflected Hegarty cross led to the Mariners' first corner in the 18th minute and shortly after this was cleared, a Town free-kick saw Newey drag a weak effort into Burch's gloves.
A good patient build-up by the Imps led to a corner in the 22nd minute and when Oakes swung in his centre John-Lewis rose high but was left holding his head in his hands as his header crashed against the crossbar before going out for a goal-kick.
Grimsby's response saw Peter Till break through down the middle but Burch was quickly off his line to claim the ball his feet. At the other end a foul on Oakes by Danny Boshell led to a free-kick which again failed to come up with an end product.
With John-Lewis and N'Guessan having switched flanks, a number of niggly stoppages did nothing to aid the flow of the game - one such incident against Frank Sinclair gave Newey another chance to set his sights but again he fired straight at Burch.
Grimsby made it two corners apiece in the 36th minute but City stood firm - they weren't so steady at the back two minutes later though as PETER TILL fired the Mariners in front.
The goal came when Jarman found Till on the right and he did the rest as, after he cut inside Kovacs he curled an excellent left-footed effort past Burch for Town's first League goal of the season.
City looked for a quick response with John-Lewis firing over after Gall's cross was half-cleared into his path but at the other end City had Burch to thank as he twice kept out Till as he hunted for his second of the game.
Midfielder Danny Boshell then fizzed a shot inches wide as the Mariners kept up their spell of pressure before Fourth Official Trevor Kettle indicated that a minimum of two minutes were to be added on.
Midway through the added time Lee Frecklington was denied by a brilliant Barnes save after he exchanged passes with Kevin Gall whilst a dangerous Green centre saw Wright head wide of the target from 12 yards.
HT: IMPS 0 GRIMSBY 1
Both sides emerged unchanged for the start of the second half and the Imps were quickly on the attack with Green fizzing a 25-yard effort a foot over the bar as he followed up to connect after a Brown cross was cleared into his path.
Play quickly switched to the opposite end of the field though with Town winning two corners in quick succession. City dealt with both and as they attacked from the second, Grimsby full-back Newey saw yellow for a trip on N'Guessan. Wright then tested Barnes with a left-footed drive from the edge of the box whilst at the other end a heavy back-pass from Brown ended in a corner to the visitors.
A surging run forward from Sinclair then ended with N'Guessan winning a corner on the City right. Frecklington's outswinger though ended with John-Lewis heading over. N'Guessan was then in trouble after a challenge on Newey left the Grimsby man on the floor; the Frenchman duly became the first City player to receive a yellow card in the League so far this season.
The Mariners came within inches of making it 2-0 just on the hour mark as Till's cross headed onto his own bar by Sinclair and when Hegarty followed up, he was denied as Frecklington got in a brilliant block.
At the other end Wright had an effort ruled out for offside after and before play could restart a couple of idiots from the Grimsby end entered the field of play before being escorted away by stewards after they headed towards the Stacey West Stand.
A clumsy challenge on Till by Sinclair midway through the second half earned the experienced City defender a caution. Kevin Gall was then replaced by Lincoln-born Sam Mullarkey who came on for his Football League debut.
The striker was quickly in the action as, seconds after Barnes palmed away a
rasping Brown drive, he was upended in the box by Newey. Referee Mason was on the spot and quickly pointed to the spot. Another Lincoln-born player, LEE FRECKLINGTON, took the responsibility and promptly sent Barnes the wrong way to level the scores.
The atmosphere was electric now as N'Guessan saw his deep centre headed behind for a corner and in a bid to calm things down, Grimsby boss Alan Buckley brought on Chris Llewellyn for Simon Heslop.
Good work from the overlapping Brown led to corner number five for the men in red and white but when Oakes loated the ball in, Janos Kovacs was penalised for climbing. Danny North then came on for Nathan Jarman up front for Town.
Shortly after John-Lewis fired a 25-yard shot wide, Town attacked and won a corner but City held firm before breaking forward themselves but Green fired wide after N'Guessan's cross was headed back by John-Lewis.
At the other end brave goalkeeping from Burch saw him sprint off his line to deny substitute North whilst with two minutes on the clock both sides made a change with Peter Bore coming on for Nick Hegarty for Town whilst Dany N'Guessan made way for David Graham.
With a minimum of four additional minutes indicated and 90 seconds into this Kovacs saw yellow for a late challenge on Till and this proved to be the only action of note as play petered out to a draw.
FT: IMPS 1 GRIMSBY 1
MATCH FACTS
LINCOLN CITY
1 Rob BURCH
2 Paul GREEN
4 Janos KOVACS
6 Frank SINCLAIR
3 Aaron BROWN
7 Stefan OAKES
8 Lee FRECKLINGTON
12 Dany N'GUESSAN
14 Lenell JOHN-LEWIS
9 Kevin GALL
15 Ben WRIGHT
subs
22 Sam MULLARKEY (for GALL 70)
17 David GRAHAM (for N'GUESSAN 88)
5 Lee BEEVERS
19 Shane CLARKE
13 Ayden DUFFY
GOAL: FRECKLINGTON (73 pen)
BOOKINGS: N'GUESSAN (57), SINCLAIR (68), KOVACS (90+2)
GRIMSBY TOWN
1 Phil BARNES
3 Tom NEWEY
4 Ryan BENNETT
5 Matthew HEYWOOD
7 Peter TILL
11 Danny BOSHELL
12 Jamie CLARKE
14 James HUNT
17 Nick HEGARTY
21 Simon HESLOP
22 Nathan JARMAN
subs
10 Chris LLEWELLYN (for HESLOP 78)
19 Danny NORTH (for JARMAN 80)
18 Peter BORE (for HEGARTY 88)
20 Andy TAYLOR
13 Gary MONTGOMERY
GOAL: TILL (38)
BOOKINGS: HEGARTY (11), NEWEY (50)
MATCH OFFICIALS
REFEREE: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
ASSISTANTS: Jake Collin & Bob Pollock
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Trevor Kettle
ATTENDANCE: 4,573 (831 visiting supporters)
