A late effort from Davide Somma saw City secure their Football League status at the expense of play-off chasing Bury at Sincil Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

In a scrappy game of few clear-cut chances, the three vital points were secured when Somma latched on to a forward ball from the industrious Clark Keltie in the 80th minute and when the South African got sight of the goal, he duly drilled past Cameron Belford before wheeling away in celebration.

The win, together with the first clean sheet of the year, means that either Barnet or Grimsby Town will join Darlington in the non-League pyramid next season.

With Paul Green and Nathan Baker joining the list of walking wounded, manager Chris Sutton was forced to make changes to his defence for the visit of play-off chasing Bury to Sincil Bank Stadium.

Of the four who started in defence at Shrewsbury last Saturday, only Danny Hone found himself in the starting line up and he was joined by Cian Hughton, back from suspension, fit-again Joe Anderson and teenage centre-back David Stephens, who was in for his City debut.

Bright sunshine greeted the two teams as they were led out of the tunnel by referee Jarnail Singh and it as the Imps who kicked off attacking the Stacey West Stand in the first period.

The opening stages were pretty scrappy with both sides taking their time to settle into proceedings; a break forward from Davide Somma in the sixth minute being the first attack of note but the South African was denied by Ryan Cresswell who covered for Efe Sodje who had been nutmegged by the City striker.

In the 11th minute the Shakers forced the first corner of the game but Danny Hone rose well to head the ball out for a throw-in but Bury kept up the pressure, winning a corner on the opposite side which ended up in a goal-kick to the Imps.

A third Bury flag-kick was cleared as City were pushed on the back foot again whilst the Imps' response saw Matt Saunders drill a 25-yard effort over after a Joe Anderson free-kick was cleared as far as his former Fulham teammate.

A chipped ball forward from Clark Keltie then saw Bury 'keeper Cameron Belford come off his line to gather Sodje's header as Somma loitered but play quickly switched to the other end with City forced to defend another corner but this was wasted by the visitors.

With the game in its 25th minute a foul on Andy Morrell by Scott Kerr gave the Shakers a chance from a free-kick 30 yards out but Michael Jones' delivery sailed over a packed area with Stephens happy to watch the ball roll out for a goal-kick.

A scrappy half continued with Bury winning their fifth unproductive corner three minutes later and as the half-hour came and went both goalkeepers remained untroubled between their respective sticks.

Ten minutes before the break a late challenge on Hone by Andy Bishop saw referee Singh have words with the Shakers' striker but it was City skipper Scott Kerr who picked up the game's first yellow card for a mistimed 39th minute challenge on Stephen Dawson. From the resultant free-kick, Burch tipped over a Morrell effort and after City cleared the corner, a push on Hone by Bishop saw the latter pick up a caution.

Midway through two minutes of added time, Rob Burch punched clear a Brian Barry-Murphy corner and when the ball was pumped back into the area for a second time, Burch claimed a looping header from Ryan Cresswell.

HT: IMPS 0 BURY 0

Neither side made any changes during the interval so it was as you were as the Shakers restarted proceedings.

The second half started as the first ended in that it was somewhat scrappy with play centered mainly in the middle third and it took seven minutes before the ball entered either box when a ball over the top saw Hone hold off Worrall who took offence and dragged the City defender to the deck.

In a bid to inject some fresh impetus into things, Lenell John-Lewis replaced Brian Gilmour 11 minutes after the break and shortly after this switch Burch was forced to backpeddle and claim a deflected Jones shot.

Hone then got in an important header to divert a Barry-Murphy cross off the head of Bishop whilst at the other end a forward ball from Keltie set Somma free before he appeared to be bundled over by Sodje. The officials deemed otherwise, however, with Somma being penalised for handball as he tried to get round the experienced centre-back.

In the 62nd minute good work from Steven Lennon saw him win City's first corner of the game but Saunders' low delivery to Kerr saw the latter have a shot blocked. At the other end Burch held a Morrell shot with ease.

City responded well with John-Lewis and Somma linking up before Lennon took the ball in his stride. Unfortunately, the Scot saw his final effort fly inches the wrong side of the post from a narrowing angle.

Bury made their first chane in the 67th minute with Andy Bishop being replaced by Danny Carlton up front and three minutes later Somma fired into the side netting after an Anderson throw-in had bounced over John-Lewis.

City had a let off in the 74th minute when a swift Bury counter-attack saw Worrall play in Jones but the latter fired well over with only Burch to beat. Worrall then won a corner off Saunders which led to nothing but a City throw-in.

A second Bury change saw James Poole replace Jones and the substitute hardly had time to touch the ball as with the clock in its 80th minute, the Imps grabbed the lead. The impressive Keltie was the architect as it was his clever forward ball which saw him release DAVIDE SOMMA who calmly took a touch before gleefully blasting the ball past Belford for his eighth of the season.

Play-off chasing Bury's response was to bring striker Tom Elliott on for full-back Paul Scott and he certainly offered the Shakers a different option up front as they went in search of a leveller.

City were starting to retain possession well, however, with Somma winning a corner three minutes from the end of normal time and after this ate up some seconds a Belford free-kick was headed well wide by Morrell.

As the Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of four minutes were to be added on, Tom Buchanan fizzed a cross-cum-shot across the face of the goal and out for a goal-kick.

More valuable seconds were eaten up after Elliott was penalised for a foul on Hughton and Buchanan for a push on Lennon and when Cresswell hammered a Keltie free-kick behind for a corner, the points - and Football League safety - were as good as in the bag.

When referee Jarnail Singh took a final blow on his whistle, Sincil Bank rose to its feet to celebrate a vital win which secured Football League safety.

FT: IMPS 1 BURY 0

MATCH FACTS

LINCOLN CITY
1 Rob BURCH
25 Cian HUGHTON
6 Danny HONE
15 David STEPHENS
38 Joe ANDERSON
11 Scott KERR
23 Clark KELTIE
39 Matthew SAUNDERS
16 Steven LENNON
35 Brian GILMOUR
18 Davide SOMMA

subs
14 Lenell JOHN-LEWIS (for GILMOUR 56)
8 Richard BUTCHER
9 Paul CONNOR
19 Shane CLARKE
21 James REID
31 Michael GORDON
20 Paul MUSSELWHITE

GOAL: SOMMA (80)

BOOKING: KERR (39)

BURY
20 Cameron BELFORD
2 Paul SCOTT
6 Ryan CRESSWELL
16 Efe SODJE
3 David BUCHANAN
7 Stephen DAWSON
11 Brian BARRY-MURPHY
14 Michael JONES
19 David WORRALL
10 Andy BISHOP
18 Andy MORRELL

subs
9 Danny CARLTON (for BISHOP 67)
25 James POOLE (for JONES 76)
22 Tom ELLIOTT (for SCOTT 82)
5 Ben FUTCHER
12 Danny RACCHI
23 Tom NEWEY
1 Wayne BROWN

BOOKING: BISHOP (40)

REFEREE: Jarnail Singh
ASSISTANTS: Jonathan Hunt & Chris Knowles
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Geoff Law

ATTENDANCE: 3,403 (540 visiting supporters)