A battling performance from City saw them hold table-topping Rochdale to a draw at Spotland on Saturday afternoon.

The Imps took the lead in the 27th minute of the match when some excellent interchange play saw the Imps open up the Rochdale defence with nonchalant ease. One-touch stuff started things off and when the ball found Davide Somma he turned his man before laying the ball into Chris Herd who did the rest, curling a great effort past Frank Fielding for his fourth of the season.

The goal was nothing more than City deserved following an enterprising opening but for the remainder of the game the Imps were pushed back on the defensive; the shackles eventually broken in the 70th minute when Chris Dagnall saw his drive have enough power to go past both Rob Burch and Joe Anderson on the line.

Match report by John Vickers at Spotland:

City boss Chris Sutton had the rare luxury of naming an unchanged starting line-up for this match against Coca-Cola League 2 leaders Rochdale at Spotland.

After a rousing minute's applause in celebration of the life of Keith Alexander, play got underway with the Imps kicking off on what looked to be a pitch which would cut up quite easily.

The hosts were the first to press with Will Atkinson winning a free-kick off Moses Swaibu but when Tom Kennedy swung the second minute set-piece into the area, Rob Burch rose well to claim the ball.

City responded with Davide Somma winning a corner three minutes later but Matt Saunders' delivery was easily cleared and at the other end a Chris O'Grady centre was flicked off Chris Dagnall's head by assistant boss Ian Pearce.

Chris Herd scuffed an effort wide from City's next attack before the game entered a somewhat scrappy period, with Dagnall fortunate to avoid a caution after leaving a foot in on Moses Swaibu.

On the quarter-hour mark a Rochdale free-kick ended with the ball in Burch's gloves again but before play could continue home centre-back Craig Dawson required treatment after hitting the deck somewhat heavily as the bodies went up to meet to the cross.

When play resumed, City pressed with Somma having a flicked header claimed by Frank Fielding before the Dale keeper blocked a powerful drive from the South African with his chest.

A deflected Dagnall centre off Swaibu led to Rochdale's first corner of the game in the 25th minute but Burch commanded his area well again to clutch Tom Kennedy's delivery from the quadrant.

City's response was immediate when some excellent interchange play saw the Imps open up the Rochdale defence with nonchalant ease. One-touch stuff started things off and when the ball found Somma he turned his man before laying the ball into Chris Herd who did the rest, curling a great effort past Fielding for his fourth of the season.

The goal was nothing more than City deserved following an enterprising opening 27 minutes and when a second Rochdale corner came to an abrupt halt for a foul and O'Grady fired well over, the home fans were starting to air their frustrations.

A stoppage came about in the 38th minute as goalscorer Herd picked a knock and when play restarted Dagnall shrugged off Saunders before letting fly but the home striker was denied by an excellent save low to his left by Burch. The resultant corner came to nothing as far as the hosts were concerned.

As the half wore on Dagnall saw another effort end in a corner with Kennedy's deep delivery sailing over a packed area and out for a City goal-kick. With Herd looking to be struggling from his earlier knock, another Rochdale corner, taken quickly, ended with Gary Jones having a shot blocked by Pearce.

With Shane Clarke stripped and ready to replace Herd, the Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of four minutes were to be added and 60 seconds into these extra stages, the substitution was made.

Good work from Somma saw him win City's second corner of the half and this ended with Clarke's first touch seeing him head at Fielding for the last action of the opening period.

HT: ROCHDALE 0 IMPS 1

Neither side made any further changes during the half-time break with the home side restarting proceedings.

Within 20 seconds of the restart City were forced on the defensive with Atkinson winning a cornerand when the ball was played into the area, home appeals for handball against Scott Kerr were waved away by referee David Foster; the ball clearly hitting the City skipper in the middle of his chest.

The home side were certainly looking for a quick leveller in the early stages of the second period with Burch doing well to claim a low cross from O'Grady as ex-Imp Ciaran Toner loitered in the six-yard box. Burch then claimed an Atkinson header from a Toner centre.

A seventh Rochdale corner, 10 minutes after the restart, was hooked clear by Pearce before an eighth a minute later saw Kerr hook to safety. Burch then did well to claim a curling O'Grady effort from the edge of the box.

It was all Rochdale as another corner came their way before a wayward Tom Kennedy effort which flew well over the stand, gave City the chance to calm things down a bit and slow down the tempo.

A home substitution in the 65th minute saw Kallum Higginbotham replace Toner whilst a rare City attack saw Somma warm Fielding's fingers with a stinging drive from 25 yards a couple of minutes after.

The hosts' pressure eventually paid off in the 70th minute when they levelled the scores. Dagnall was the man involved as he saw his goalbound effort kept out superbly by Burch but as the ball rebounded, the unfortunate Joe Anderson couldn't get out of the way with the ball nestling in the net via the City full-back.

Shortly after the restart Higginbotham fizzed a 25-yard drive a foot wide before Drewe Broughton was cautioned for persistent infringement either either side of two more Rochdale corners. Somma and Dagnall then followed Broughton into the book as the due tussled in the area prior to the second of these corners being taken.

City defended three more Rochdale corners as the game approached its final 10 minutes whilst a tiring Broughton was replaced by former Dale striker Paul Connor and for the home side Joe Thompson came on for Will Atkinson.

Connor was quickly in the action, winning a free-kick in front of the City dugout, but after the home side cleared their lines Burch did well to claim Dale's 15th corner. With the game approaching the final 90 second of normal time Steven Lennon was cautioned after kicking the ball away following an offside flag against him

As the Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of three minutes were to be added, Jones fired over the stand after another Dale corner fell into the long-serving midfielder's path. O'Grady then curled wide from the home side's next attack before Dagnall headed a Kennedy centre the right side of the uright as far as the Imps were concerned. Burch picked up a yellow card for delaying the taking of the resultant goal-kick.

Less than a minute later, referee Foster blew for time; City emerging with a valuable point against their free-scoring and table-topping hosts.

FT: ROCHDALE 1 IMPS 1

TEAM SHEET

LINCOLN CITY
1 Rob BURCH
25 Cian HUGHTON
5 Moses SWAIBU
13 Ian PEARCE
38 Joe ANDERSON
39 Matthew SAUNDERS
11 Scott KERR
34 Chris HERD
16 Steven LENNON
15 Drewe BROUGHTON
18 Davide SOMMA

subs
19 Shane CLARKE (for HERD 45+2)
9 Paul CONNOR (for BROUGHTON 82)
6 Danny HONE
7 Stefan OAKES
31 Michael GORDON
35 Brian GILMOUR
20 Paul MUSSELWHITE

GOAL: HERD (27)

BOOKINGS: BROUGHTON (75), SOMMA (76), LENNON (89), BURCH (90+3)

ROCHDALE
34 Frank FIELDING
23 Rory McARDLE
3 Tom KENNEDY
4 Nathan STANTON
26 Craig DAWSON
7 Jason KENNEDY
8 Gary JONES
32 Will ATKINSON
6 Ciaran TONER
19 Chris O'GRADY
9 Chris DAGNALL

subs
18 Kallum HIGGINBOTHAM (for TONER 65)
15 Joe THOMPSON (for ATKINSON 82)
2 Scott WISEMAN
14 Temitope OBADEYI
28 Matt FLYNN
33 Jason TAYLOR
1 Kenny ARTHUR

GOAL: DAGNALL (70)

BOOKING: DAGNALL (76)

MATCH OFFICIALS

REFEREE: David Foster
ASSISTANTS: Mo Matadar & Andy Newell
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Danny Roberts

ATTENDANCE: 3,453 (234 City supporters)