A disappointing Easter weekend concluded on Monday afternoon with Morecambe securing a 3-1 success at Sincil Bank Stadium.

With the Imps going into the match on the back of a 1-0 reverse at Cheltenham Town, they found themselves a goal down again to Morecambe when a deflected 17th minute Craig Stanley shot looped over Rob Burch.

City rallied, though, with Chris Herd being denied by a fine Barry Roche save before the Morecambe 'keeper tipped behind a Matt Saunders free-kick, and they were rewarded in the 66th minute when Cian Hughton slotted home a Davide Somma cross.

Any hopes of securing something from the game were dashed, however, as in the 82nd minute Paul Mullin followed up an effort which crashed against the bar with his header going over the line before Burch got a glove to it, and it was left to Wane Curtis to wrap things up three minutes into stoppage time.

Match report by John Vickers at Sincil Bank Stadium:

With Scott Kerr suspended and Steven Lennon out with a groin strain, manager Chris Sutton was forced to make changes to his starting line-up for this Coca-Cola League 2 encounter against Morecambe at Sincil Bank Stadium.

Kerr's replacement in the middle of the park was Shane Clarke whilst Clark Keltie also returned to the starting line-up in Lennon's absence. Another change saw Nathan Baker return to the heart of the defence, allowing stand-in skipper Paul Green to switch to right-back with Cian Hughton pushing forward. Paul Connor found himself on the bench having started the last three matches with Chris Herd starting alongside Davide Somma up front.

With a strong wind blowing into their faces, City got the game underway attacking the GoCar Stand end in the opening period and they were the first to press with the overlapping Joe Anderson winning a free-kick off Craig Stanley in the third minute. Matt Saunders' inswinging delivery, however, was easily claimed by Morecambe 'keeper Barry Roche.

City's next attack saw a low ball into the area by Somma to Herd cleared by James Bentley whilst Darren Moss was well positioned to intercept a Cian Hughton cross from the opposite flank a minute or so later.

In the 12th minute a meaty challenge on Clarke by Bentley saw both players require treatment, although the City midfielder looked to have come off the worse and was helped to the sidelines by physio Michael Wait before being allowed to return to the fray.

The blustery conditions were certainly playing their part in proceedings with both sides struggling to make an impact on the game in the opening quarter of an hour. This all changed, however, in the 17th minute whena ball into the box was only half cleared as far as Stanley. He duly set his sights from 25, and when his shot deflected off Keltie's head, Burch had no chance as the ball spooned over his head and into the back of the net.

City looked for a quick response with a deflected Somma effort leading to a corner which was hacked to safety after Saunders' low delivery was dummied by two City players before Somma's effort went goalwards.

The Imps had a glorious chance to level matters in the 24th minute when Somma picked out Herd but, one-on-one with Roche after a great first touch gave him a sight of goal, the Australian was denied as the Morecambe 'keeper spread himself well.

Almost immediately, Somma was tripped by the backtracking Curtis with Saunders' free-kick being tipped behind for what turned out to be an unproductive corner by the busy Roche. A deflected Hughton cross then led to City's third corner as the the clock showed 33 minutes played but again this came to nothing.

The next 10 minutes or so were pretty uneventful with play centered mainly in the middle third of the field, before a long free-kick from Burch found Herd who headed wide a couple of minutes before two incident-free added minutes.

HT: IMPS 0 MORECAMBE 1

No changes were made during the half-time interval so it was as you were as the visitors restarted proceedings.

City were the first to press following the restart with good work from Hughton seeing him win a corner off Laurence Wilson and as the flag-kick was half-cleared, Clarke was upended 30 yards out. Anderson set his sights but Roche got up well to tip over. This corner ended up seeing Herd rise well only to head over.

A number of offside decisions sopped the game from flowing and from one such incident, Morecambe striker Phil Jevons was cautioned for kicking the ball away in frustration. Visiting centre-back Dave Artell was then spoken to by referee Steven Cook for a foul on Herd.

Morecambe won their first corner of the game in the 64th minute but Saunders was there to clear. A couple of minutes later, the Imps attacked and when Somma was set free down the right, he saw his ball into the area land at Saunders' feet only for him to see his goalbound effort cleared on the line. The ball ran free for Somma and he looked up before laying the ball into the path of Cian Hughton who slotted home his fourth of the season from 10 yards out.

The visitors looked for a quick response with the Imps forced to defend another corner and when Mullin beat Anderson to a ball, his cross was sliced behind by Swaibu. His defensive partner Baker, however, cleared the resultant flag-kick.

As the action swtched to the other end Darren Moss picked up a 75th minute caution after he cynically dragged Herd to the ground and three minutes later Artell joined him in the book after he felled Herd 20 yards out. Saunders fired the latter free-kick a foot over though and the game continued at one apiece.

Neil Wainwright for Simon Hackney was the first substitution of the game as the clock ticked into its last 10 minutes and within seconds of this switch, the visitors regained the advantage. The Shrimps' second goal came after a throw-in ended up with the ball being hooked against the crossbar and when it ran free, Paul Mullin headed goalwards. Burch did well to claw the ball away before Curtis fired over, but the assistant referee's flag was already up to indicate that the ball had crossed the line.

The frustrations in the City camp grew with Hughton picking up a 86th minute caution for dissent after a clear foul on Somma by Stanley went unpunished. A minute later striker Paul Connor replaced defender Joe Anderson in a late bid to get something from the game.

The substitutions continued with Garry Hunter coming on for Jevons for the visitors in the final minute of normal time. The Fourth Official then indicated that a minimum of four minutes were to be added on.

With the visitors happy to take their time during these added stages, they went on to secure the three points three minutes as, after striker Wayne Curtis gained possession, he waltzed past a couple of challenges before stabbing a shot across Burch and into the bottom corner of the net.

FT: IMPS 1 MORECAMBE 3

TEAM SHEET

LINCOLN CITY
1 Rob BURCH
2 Paul GREEN
5 Moses SWAIBU
33 Nathan BAKER
38 Joe ANDERSON
19 Shane CLARKE
39 Matthew SAUNDERS
23 Clark KELTIE
25 Cian HUGHTON
34 Chris HERD
18 Davide SOMMA

subs
9 Paul CONNOR (for ANDERSON 87)
8 Richard BUTCHER
14 Lenell JOHN-LEWIS
15 David STEPHENS
26 Andy HUTCHINSON
35 Brian GILMOUR
20 Paul MUSSELWHITE

GOAL: HUGHTON (66)

BOOKING: HUGHTON (86)

MORECAMBE
1 Barry ROCHE
5 James BENTLEY
19 Laurence WILSON
4 David ARTELL
2 Darren MOSS
6 Craig STANLEY
7 Simon HACKNEY
16 Stewart DRUMMOND
9 Wayne CURTIS
10 Phil JEVONS
21 Paul MULLIN

subs
11 Neil WAINWRIGHT (for HACKNEY 81)
8 Garry HUNTER (for JEVONS 90)
14 Manny PANTHER
15 Fraser McLACHLAN
18 Mark DUFFY
23 Henry McSTAY
12 Scott DAVIES

GOALS: STANLEY (17), MULLIN (82), CURTIS (90+3)

BOOKINGS: JEVONS (56), MOSS (75), ARTELL (78)

MATCH OFFICIALS

REFEREE: Steven Cook
ASSISTANTS: Ian Dudley & Billy Khatib
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Mark Griffiths

ATTENDANCE: 3,109 (165 visiting supporters)