Ex-Imp Lee Thorpe netted the only goal of the game as the Imps slipped out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at the first hurdle at the Darlington Arena on Tuesday evening.
With the Imps having enjoyed the better of the opening exhanges and after Paul Connor was denied by a fine save from home stopper David Knight, Thorpe met a 27th minute Mark Convery centre before planting a firm header past Rob Burch.
The goal seemed to lift the home side and after the break Burch was the busier of the two goalkeepers, brilliantly tipping a rasping drive from substitute David Dowson over the bar. At the other end City substitute Chris Fagan came closest to a leveller but his deflected shot from 12 yards spun just the wrong side of the upright.
Match report by John Vickers at the Darlington Arena:
Manager Peter Jackson made four changes to his side for this Johnstone's Paint Trophy first round tie at Darlington. Two of the changes were enforced with the injured Janos Kovacs and Stefan Oakes replaced by Danny Hone and Shane Clarke whilst the other two saw Richard Butcher and Jamie Clarke drop from the squad with the Lincoln-born duo of Andy Hutchinson and Sam Clucas being their replacements.
Hutchinson and Clucas started on the right and left repectively as the Imps got the game underway against a Darlington side who included ex-Imps Lee Thorpe and Kevin Gall in their starting line-up.
With the travelling City supporters in good voice in the vast arena, which was well below its capacity, a number of early stoppages made for a stop-start opening to proceedings, interrupted when a neat through ball from Shane Clarke forced home centre-back Ian Miller to step across and intercept as Paul Connor threatened to get the wrong side of the former Boston United player.
The Imps continued to enjoy the better of the opening exchanges, with a heavy back pass from home skipper Paul Arnison almost catching out home 'keeper David Knight, who was put under pressure from Rene Howe as he went to clear the ball.
Howe's attempted lob from 25 yards was then claimed under his bar by the home stopper and in the 10th minute Paul Connor escaped the offside trap only to be denied by Knight, much to the frustration of manager Peter Jackson on the sidelines.
Knight was called into action again a couple of minutes later as he saved a low Howe effort whilst at the other end a deflected Nathan Porritt free-kick led to the game's first corner on the quarter hour mark, which ended up being fired over by Gary Smith.
Danny Hone was spoken to by referee Mark Haywood following a cruching challenge on former team mate Kevin Gall and shortly afterwards, Gall forced Rob Burch into his first save of note; the City stopper getting down well to hold the snap-shot.
Whilst Hone escaped punishment for his challenge, Shane Clarke didn't for his mistimed tackle on Smith and referee Haywood was quick to brandish a 20th minute yellow card in the direction of the City midfielder.
Andy Hutchinson was the next to try his luck but the teenager's left-footed effort after he had cut in from the right flew a couple of feet wide whilst Darlington's response saw Thorpe head a decent Mark Convery cross out for a goal-kick.
Thorpe, however, made no mistake with the next chance he got as, in the 27th minute, he connected with another Convery centre - created after good persistence from Gall saw him keep the ball in play close to the corner flag before he laid the ball back to his colleague - and duly planted a firm header past Burch from six yards out.
City looked for an immediate response with Clarke fizzing a 25-yard effort a foot over the bar but play quickly switched to the opposite end of the field and when Gall's centre from the left found Convery he denied by an excellent one-handed save by Burch.
Ten minutes before the break Thorpe used his experience to draw a foul out of Moses Swaibu and when Porritt's free-kick clipped the City wall it led to the Quakers' third corner of the game, which was taken short but eventually cleared to safety.
City's response saw Connor flick a ball on for Howe who saw his shot on the turn well held by Knight but Thorpe's goal had clearly given the home side a lift and the Imps' backline was beginning to be put under some pressure; a deflected Thorpe effort leading to another corner which was headed off the line by Clucas.
The Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of two minutes were to be added and these passed without incident so it was the hosts who went into the break with their noses in front courtesy of ex-City striker Thorpe's 27th minute effort.
HT: DARLINGTON 1 IMPS 0
Both sides emerged unchanged for the start of the second period and within the opening 60 seconds of the restart, good work from Andy Hutchinson saw him win the Imps' first corner of the game but Aaron Brown's inswinging delivery was headed clear by Matthew Plummer.
City started the second half as they did the first in that they enjoyed the better of the exchanges, but the first real chance after the break saw Gall fire over after a sliced clearance from Hutchinson landed at the Darlington man's feet just inside the box.
The play switched to the other end in the 53rd minute and after Kerr and Howe had combined, the latter saw his centre flicked off Connor's head by the alert Knight. Hutchinson then went down in the box under Porritt's challenge but referee Haywood was having none of it and waved play-on.
Darlington's response a couple of minutes later saw Hone's mistimed challenge on Thorpe earn him a caution whilst shortly before the hour mark a Darlington corner was played straight out of play for a throw-in on the opposite side of the pitch.
A double change for City saw Chris Fagan and Lenell John-Lewis replace Sam Clucas and Rene Howe; the switch seeing Fagan partner Connor up front whilst John-Lewis slotted in on the right with Hutchinson switching flanks.
Thorpe and Hone were having a running battle as the game continued with a couple of stray arms from the former leaving the latter grounded, although referee Haywood was happy to let play continue, much to the consternation of the City centre-back.
As the game entered its final quarter, Brown was forced to clear a deep Porritt cross out for a corner and after John-Lewis cleared his lines, play was stopped to allow physio Michael Wait to administer treatment to Danny Hone, who was left grounded as the heads went up to win the flag-kick.
Brown was in the action at the other end shortly afterwards when his overlapping run ended with him being bundled to the deck by Arnison but skipper Kerr's delivery sailed over a packed penalty area and out for a goal-kick. That killer touch continued to elude the City players.
Another Hone/Thorpe clash ended with the City defender being spoken to again by Mr Haywood and the official was called into action again in the 74th minute when a cynical foul by Arnison on Hutchinson earned the home defender a yellow card. A minute later a double Darlington substitution saw Jeff Smith and David Dowson replace Kevin Gall and Nathan Porritt.
City substitute Chris Fagan carved out the next half-chance when he twisted and turned past his marker before curling his shot wide whilst at the other end Burch got down to his right to hold a downward Thorpe header.
Thorpe picked up his customary caution nine minutes from time after he floored Hone for the umpteenth time whilst Smith was fortunate to escape a card after leaving a foot in on Brown. The free-kick for the latter offence ended with Hutchinson firing just over.
Time was quickly running out for City, although they continued to look the more likely to add to the scoring with Fagan being crowded out as he prepared to pull the trigger before the Irishman had a shot on the turn deflected out for a corner which was headed wide by a stretching Hone at the back post.
Shortly after Dowson dragged a shot wide, former Macclesfield Town man Rikki Bains was brought on for Mark Convery as Darlington boss Colin Todd made his third and final change of the game. The clock was in its 87th minute at the time of the switch.
A fantastic save from Burch a minute later saw him tip a Dowson thunderbolt over the bar but before the corner could be taken the City stopper was spoken to by referee Haywood after airing his frustrations at Moses Swaibu a bit too strongly.
The Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of four minutes were to be added on at the end of the game and with 60 seconds of this added time remaining, a City corner saw Burch go forward but it was to no avail as the home side easily cleared Brown's delivery before taking the ball up the other end to eat up the remaining moments.
FT: DARLINGTON 1 IMPS 0
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
17 Sam CLUCAS
26 Andy HUTCHINSON
9 Paul CONNOR
18 Rene HOWE
subs
10 Chris FAGAN (for CLUCAS 63)
14 Lenell JOHN-LEWIS (for HOWE 63)
29 Kern MILLER
30 Luca COLEMAN-CARR
20 Paul MUSSELWHITE
BOOKINGS: CLARKE (20), HONE (55)
DARLINGTON
1 David KNIGHT
2 Paul ARNISON
3 Mark BOWER
4 Matthew PLUMMER
6 Ian MILLER
9 Lee THORPE
14 Gary SMITH
18 Mark CONVERY
19 Jamie CHANDLER
22 Nathan PORRITT
24 Kevin GALL
subs
7 Jeff SMITH (for GALL 75)
20 David DOWSON (for PORRITT 75)
21 Rikki BAINS (for CONVERY 87)
11 James BENNETT
13 Nick LIVERSEDGE
GOAL: THORPE (27)
BOOKINGS: ARNISON (74), THORPE (81)
MATCH OFFICIALS
REFEREE: Mark Haywood
ASSISTANTS: Mike Denton & Wayne Grunill
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Simon Clayton
ATTENDANCE: 828 (86 City supporters)
