City slumped to a disappointing 3-0 defeat against high-flying Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday afternoon with John Still's side well worthy of the three points.

Jon Nurse opened the scoring for the Daggers in the 13th minute when he made the most of some hesitant defending before firing past Rob Burch and the half-time scoreline would have been worse had Paul Benson not fired over an empty net from three yards out eight minutes before the break.

It wasn't long, though, before the home side doubled their advantage as in the 57th minute Danny Green curled a fine effort into the top corner and a quarter of an hour later Nurse added his second when he prodded home from close range after skipper Mark Arber had headed down a corner at the back post.

Chances at the other end were at a premium with home 'keeper Tony Roberts rarely troubled as the win took his side to the top of the Coca-Cola League 2 table.

Match report by John Vickers at the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium:

Manager Peter Jackson welcomed Paul Connor, Stefan Oakes and skipper Scott Kerr back to his starting line-up for this Coca-Cola League 2 game against free-scoring Dagenham & Redbridge at the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium.

The trio all returned following injury with Chris Fagan, Lenell John-Lewis and Shane Clarke all dropping to the bench as a result. The Daggers, meanwhile, included ex-Imp Peter Gain in their starting XI.

The Imps got the game underway and the opening 90 seconds or so were mainly spent on the City left with a succession of throw-ins making for a stop-start beginning to proceedings.

City managed to piece together their first attack in the third minute with Paul Connor being released down the right by Scott Kerr before his cross was cleared for a corner by Mark Arber. Aaron Brown's delivery, however, sailed over everyone and out for a goal kick.

At the other end Cian Hughton was harshly penalised for a foul on Jon Nurse giving the hosts a chance to create something from a set-piece in an attacking position but referee Keith Hill spotted another infringement as the ball came in and play restarted with a free-kick to City.

The Daggers were always looking to get the ball forward quickly but it was some hesitant defending that gave them the chance to open the scoring in the 13th minute. It was a chance they duly took.

Jon Nurse was the man to grab the opener as after he gained possession on the left flank, he made the most of a weak clearance from Jamie Clarke and a subsequent fortuitous bounce or two an when one-on-one with Rob Burch cooly slotted past the City number one.

The goal clearly lifted the home side with the Imps forced to defend four corners in the following five minutes and having withstood some more pressure in the run up to the 23rd minute, Peter Gain went to ground in the area as he skipped through the tackles but his appeals for a penalty were waved away by Mr Hill.

City's response saw Stefan Oakes play a ball over the top for Connor to run on to but, as the Lincoln striker challenged home stopper Tony Roberts, the referee awarded the hosts a free-kick, even though Connor clearly beat his opponent to the ball.

Shortly after the half-hour mark Oakes fizzed an effort goalwards only for the ball to fly a couple of feet wide of the target whilst at the other end Josh Scott dragged a weak shot well wide after a long ball forward saw the home striker break down the left.

Scott was on the attack again in the 37th minute and after he shrugged off both Kovacs and Hughton, squared to the unmarked Paul Benson who, from within the six-yard box, somehow sliced the ball over the bar much to the relief of the City defence and the amusement of the travelling Imps' supporters.

A deflected Gain effort led to the Daggers' sixth corner of the game and this ended with Burch claiming a hooked Scott effort and five minutes before the break a low Richard Butcher shot sailed wide of Roberts' goal.

Benson tried to make amends for his glaring miss a couple of minutes later when he crossed for Nurse who sent a looping header onto the top of the bar and just before the Fourth Official indicated that one minute was to be added, Stuart Thurgood saw his centre hit the woodwork as the hosts pressed again.

HT: DAGGERS 0 IMPS 1

A change a the break for City saw Andy Hutchinson replace Jamie Clarke on the right hand side and within 60 seconds of the restart a foul on Scott by Kovacs earned the big Hungarian a yellow card. The resultant free-kick, just outside the box, clipped the Imps' wall before going behind for a corner which Brown bravely cleared as he was fouled by an onrushing Dagenham player.

Another home corner four minutes later ended with Will Antwi and Kovacs clashing heads with the latter requiring treatment as a result before he was able to resume duties.

Substitute Hutchinson won the Imps' second corner of the game 10 minutes after the restart but the home defence weren't threatened as Brown whipped the ball into the danger area and from the Daggers' resultant counter-attack, Oakes was left clutching his leg after clearing the ball to safety. The playmaker looked to be in some discomfort as he got to his feet.

Two minutes later, the home side doubled their advantage as, after Scott Griffiths managed to keep the ball in play, his ball back towards the edge of the box was met by Danny Green who made the most of Oakes' inability to get to the ball by bringing the ball under control before curling a fine effort into the top left corner of Burch's goal.

City responded with Butcher testing Roberts with a shot on the turn, whilst Oakes' injury got the better of him on the hour mark and he was replaced by Lenny John-Lewis.

Scott Kerr joined Kovacs in the book for a foul on Thurgood a minute later before the hosts won their ninth and tenth corners of the game, which City dealt with well to keep the score at 2-0.

Another quick Daggers attack saw the overlapping Griffiths beat Kovacs, who had taken another knock a few minutes earlier, before lobbing over the bar whilst the home side's next foray forward saw Kovacs concede a corner under pressure from Scott.

This corner led to another on the opposite side as Connor cleared his lines but from this one, the home side made it 3-0 as the deep flag-kick was nodded down by Mark Arber and there to prod home from close range was Jon Nurse who easily bagged his second of the game.

Five minutes later good persistence from Hutchinson saw him shake off a couple of challenges before laying the ball back to Howe but the Peterborough United loanee could only drag his shot wide of the target as a lack of that killer touch in the final third continued.

Twelve minutes from time John-Lewis required treatment after a late, but fair, challenge from Thurgood left the substitute grounded in the centre circle. When he returned to the fray, he curled a shot over the bar after cutting in from the left flank.

A change for the Daggers came in the 83rd minute with Graeme Montgomery coming on for Danny Green whilst two-goal Jon Nurse was replaced by Billy Bingham a couple of minutes before time.

The Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of three minutes were to be added on and in the first of these Gain fired a long range left-footed effort well over whilst at the other end John-Lewis was released by Hughton but his centre to Howe had too much pace on it and the ball flew out for a throw-in.

Dagenham's 13th corner of the game proved to be the last action of what was ultimately a disappointing Saturday afternoon out in the capital.

FT: DAGGERS 3 IMPS 0

TEAM SHEET

LINCOLN CITY
1 Rob BURCH
25 Cian HUGHTON
4 Janos KOVACS
25 Moses SWAIBU
3 Aaron BROWN
8 Richard BUTCHER
11 Scott KERR
15 Jamie CLARKE
7 Stefan OAKES
9 Paul CONNOR
18 Rene HOWE

subs
26 Andy HUTCHINSON (for J CLARKE h/t)
14 Lenell JOHN-LEWIS (for OAKES 60)
6 Danny HONE
10 Chris FAGAN
19 Shane CLARKE
30 Luca COLEMAN-CARR
20 Paul MUSSELWHITE

BOOKINGS: KOVACS (46), KERR (61)

DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE
1 Tony ROBERTS
4 Scott DOE
6 Mark ARBER
7 Danny GREEN
8 Stuart THURGOOD
9 Jon NURSE
10 Josh SCOTT
12 Scott GRIFFITHS
14 Paul BENSON
25 Will ANTWI
33 Peter GAIN

subs
22 Graeme MONTGOMERY (for GREEN 83)
24 Billy BINGHAM (for NURSE 88)
2 Alex BENTLEY
15 Anwar UDDIN
16 Wesley THOMAS
19 Abu OGOGO
30 Chris LEWINGTON

GOALS: NURSE (13 & 72), GREEN (57)

MATCH OFFICIALS

REFEREE: Keith Hill
ASSISTANTS: L Betts & T Robinson
FOURTH OFFICIAL: B Holderness

ATTENDANCE: 1,810 (220 City supporters)