A Luke Rodgers hat-trick condemned the Imps to their fourth successive defeat with title favourites Notts County securing a comfortable victory at Sincil Bank on Tuesday evening.
Rodgers struck straight from the off as with just 12 seconds on the clock he slotted past Rob Burch after latching on to a ball over the top and in the 25th minute he netted a similar effort after the City defence was caught square.
With Shane Clarke having City's best chance when he hit the post with a low 25-yard drive, it was left to Rodgers in the final minute of normal time to complete the victory for the men from Meadow Lane.
Match report by John Vickers at Sincil Bank Stadium:
In his last game as caretaker manager, Simon Clark made two changes to the side for this East Midlands derby against Notts County at Sincil Bank Stadium.
Dropping to the bench were Janos Kovacs and Chris Fagan and with a change of formation from the 5-3-2 that was on show at Bury, Lenell John-Lewis and Jamie Clarke were their replacements. The double switch saw Rene Howe start the match on his own up front.
The game burst into action straight from the off as, after the kick-off was restarted following encroachment from Luke Rodgers, who went in hard on Scott Kerr, the former Shrewsbury marksman latched onto a ball over the top and, 12 seconds into proceedings, advanced forward and slotted a neat effort past Rob Burch to give his side a dream start.
It was certainly a feisty start with a number of cruching challenges adding to the atmosphere, which was made all the more heated due to the noise emerging from the travelling Notts hoards following Rodgers' lightning quick start.
Things quietened down a bit as the half approached the 10 minute mark with play mainly centered in the middle third of the field but with Jamie Clarke starting to see plenty of the ball on the right, City were starting to look threatening going forward.
Play was at the other end in the 19th minute, however, with Aaron Brown harshly adjudged to have felled Lee Hughes on the left hand side of the penalty area. Johnnie Jackson took the set-piece but Brown cleared behind at his near post and the resultant corner, the first of the game, came to nothing.
With 25 minutes played, County doubled their advantage and once again it was Rodgers who came up with the goods. The goal was similar to his first as, from a seemingly harmless ball forward, the City defence was caught square and having escaped the offside flag, Rodgers bore down on Burch and slotted into the bottom corner.
City came close to an immediate reply with Sergio Torres volleying a Cian Hughton cross a foot the wrong side of the upright whilst one foul too many by Hughes saw the County striker enter referee Craig Pawson's notebook with 33 minutes played. Matt Ritchie followed him two minutes later after he left a foot in on Torres.
Shortly after Rene Howe fizzed a low effort across the goal, a switch for the Imps saw Andy Hutchinson replace Jamie Clarke on the right whilst a third County caution saw John Thompson see yellow for a foul on Howe.
With the first half approaching added time, Rodgers and Swaibu clashed and with the former remaining grounded off the pitch, referee Pawson was quickly on the scene and after consulting with his assistant, dished out a yellow card to the City defender, much to the annoyance of the travelling fans who were baying for red.
The Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of three minutes were to be added and in the second of these City won their first corner of the game but Kasper Schmeichel commanded his area well and claimed Kerr's delivery with ease.
HT: IMPS 0 NOTTS COUNTY 2
With neither side making any changes during the break, it was as you were as the Magpies got the game underway again.
City were the first to press with a low Hughton cross being claimed at the feet of John-Lewis by Schmeichel whilst a late challenge on Brendan Moloney by Howe saw the Imps' striker become the latest name in Mr Pawson's notebook.
A couple of decisions against John-Lewis as he went up to meet a couple of challenges earned the officials the wrath of the City faithful whilst a City corner eight minutes played in the second half saw Shane Clarke come close to connecting with Kerr's delivery but the ball skimmed off his head. As the ball was played back in a clever dummy from Hutchinson ended with Howe dragging a low shot wide of the goal.
Before play restarted, Ricky Ravenhill required treatment after taking a knock to his shoulder. The former Doncaster Rovers midfielder looked to be in some discomfort as the stretcher was called for but miraculously sprang to his feet and was able to return to the fray shortly afterwards.
City were starting to impose some pressure on the visiting defence as the hour mark approached with John-Lewis flicking a header from a Howe cross wide of the target. Clarke then went down under an Edwards challenge only for the referee to wave play on and when John-Lewis was penalised for a push on Moloney, a free-kick to the visitors saw Ben Davies curl a long range effort over the bar.
A swift County attack in the 65th minute saw Hughes test Burch before Craig Westcarr came on for Matt Richie for the Magpies 60 seconds later. Chances at the other end, meanwhile, remained difficult to come by.
Danny Jones became County's fourth player to pick up a caution when he kicked the ball away after he was pulled up for a foul on John-Lewis with the resultant free-kick ending up with a goal-kick to the Magpies.
A second City substitution saw Stefan Oakes replace Scott Kerr in the 75th minute whilst Hutchinson moved into a central role at the same time in a bid to get something out of the game.
County seemed content to see the game out and in a last ditch bid to get back into the match Chris Fagan came on for Lenell John-Lewis eight minutes from time. Neil Bishop replaced Ben Davies for the visitors at the same time.
That elusive goal almost came along shortly afterwards but when Clarke fizzed in a low 25-yard effort which beat Schmeichel he was left holding his head in his hands as the ball crashed against the upright before going behind for a goal-kick.
At the other end a County corner ended with Swaibu being tripped by Edwards whilst another Magpies flag-kick was well claimed by Burch and a third was cleared by Howe. The City defence couldn't do anything from County's next attack, however, and in the final minute of the game a knock down from Hughes saw Rodgers complete his hat-trick with a clinical finish past Burch from 10 yards.
Rodgers then received a standing ovation from the travelling fans as he was replaced by Karl Hawley in the first of four added minutes, which passed without further incident.
FT: IMPS 0 NOTTS COUNTY 3
MATCH FACTS
LINCOLN CITY
1 Rob BURCH
25 Cian HUGHTON
5 Moses SWAIBU
6 Danny HONE
3 Aaron BROWN
11 Scott KERR
19 Shane CLARKE
21 Sergio TORRES
14 Lenell JOHN-LEWIS
15 Jamie CLARKE
18 Rene HOWE
subs
26 Andy HUTCHINSON (for J CLARKE 39)
7 Stefan OAKES (for KERR 75)
10 Chris FAGAN (for JOHN-LEWIS 82)
4 Janos KOVACS
17 Sam CLUCAS
29 Kern MILLER
20 Paul MUSSELWHITE
BOOKINGS: SWAIBU (45), HOWE (48)
NOTTS COUNTY
23 Kasper SCHMEICHEL
2 Brendan MOLONEY
3 Matt RITCHIE
4 Mike EDWARDS
6 John THOMPSON
8 Ricky RAVENHILL
11 Ben DAVIES
21 Johnnie JACKSON
24 Danny JONES
9 Lee HUGHES
19 Luke RODGERS
subs
20 Craig WESTCARR (for RITCHIE 66)
10 Neal BISHOP (for DAVIES 82)
15 Karl HAWLEY (for RODGERS 90+2)
7 Matt HAMSHAW
17 Jamie CLAPHAM
22 Delroy FACEY
12 Kevin PILKINGTON
GOALS: RODGERS (1, 25, 90)
BOOKINGS: HUGHES (34), RITCHIE (36), THOMPSON (43), JONES (72)
MATCH OFFICIALS
REFEREE: Craig Pawson
ASSISTANTS: Geoff Law & Scott Ledger
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Keith Lawson
ATTENDANCE: 5,527 (1,856 visiting supporters)
