Four second half goals from Bolton Wanderers saw a battling City side exit the FA Cup sponsored by E.ON at the Third Round stage on Saturday afternoon.
After an evenly-matched opening 45 minutes, Premier League Bolton scored twice in the opening five minutes of the second half with a Matt Taylor cross ending in the back off the net with the unfortunate Moses Swaibu appearing to get the final touch.
The lively Chung-Yong Lee drilled home an Ivan Klasnic pass to make it 2-0 just 30 seconds later but City's heads didn't drop and made sure home stopper Ali Al Habsi was the busier of the two goalkeepers as over 3,100 travelling fans looked on.
The Omani international twice denied Chris Herd who was more than impressive in the City midfield but with the Imps pushing men forward, the hosts scored twice more late on to wrap up a flattering scoreline.
Bolton's third came when Gary Cahill headed home a free-kick whilst the fourth came from substitute Mark Davies who prodded home from close range in the second minute of stoppage time.
Match report by John Vickers at the Reebok Stadium:
Manager Chris Sutton made four changes to his starting line-up for this FA Cup sponsored by E.ON Third Round tie against Premier League Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium.
Three of the changes were enforced with Nathan Baker not permitted to play in the competition by Aston Villa and Notts County loanee Delroy Facey cup-tied whilst a hamstring strain ruled out Stefan Oakes. Replacing Baker at centre-back, as he did against Chesterfield on Boxing Day, was Moses Swaibu whilst Oakes' place in midfield went to new loan signing Matthew Saunders. Lenell John-Lewis came in for Facey up front whilst the fourth switch came at left-back where new boy Joe Anderson replaced Joe Heath who dropped to the bench.
After a snowy and stop-start journey to Bolton, conditions were chilly but pleasant as the teams were led out out of the tunnel by referee Michael Oliver.
The home side kicked off and within a couple of seconds won a free-kick with skipper Scott Kerr upending Kevin Davies. Paul Robinson chipped the ball into the area but Chris Herd was back helping outand cleared to safety.
Matthew Saunders' first involvement in a City shirt saw him draw a foul out of Ricardo Gardner a couple of minutes later and Adam Watts set-piece was flicked out for the game's first corner. Cian Hughton took the flag-kick but Saunders' flick-on flew across a packed area and out for a goal-kick on the opposite side of the pitch.
Herd was then upended by Fabrice Muamba and the Australian flicked a header just wide when Kerr swung the free-kick into the mix as City remained on the offensive. Bolton's response saw Chung-Yong Lee fire well over in the 12th minute after an attempted clearance from Moses Swaibu gave the Bolton midfielder a sight of goal.
The next attempt at goal came from Bolton striker Ivan Klasnic who fizzed a low effort a foot wide of the right hand upright from the edge of the box five minutes later whilst the other end Lenny John-Lewis saw his effort deflect off Gary Cahill for a corner. Hughton's delivery was poor though an Chung-Yong Lee was able to bring the ball forward before he was halted by Paul Green.
In the 26th minute the home side won their first corner with Joe Anderson forced to head a cross behind and when the ball came in from the quadrant Saunders was there to hook clear.
City were giving the home side no time on the ball at all as the half-hour mark came and went; a lame effort from Andy O'Brien which trickled well wide bringing about some sarcastic applause from the travelling Imps' fans who were packed into the stand behind Rob Burch's goal.
Ten minutes before the break Herd tested Bolton 'keeper Ali Al Habsi with a stinging right-footed effort from 25 yards whilst an offside flag denied Hughton a run on goal after some busy midfield play from Saunders and Herd saw City gain possession in the middle third.
Ninety seconds before the break a Bolton corner flew over everyone and out for a City goal-kick whilst a minute later a foul on Hughton gave the Imps to create sometime from a set-piece on their right. Green swung a great ball into mix but, as Al Habsi came and missed, the ball wouldn't bounce for a City player and the home side hurriedly cleared their lines.
The last action of the opening half saw City defend a corner and after a minute and a half of added time referee Oliver blew for half-time. The Imps went off to a great reception with Herd the last one to make his way to the dressing room having required treatment after clearing the aforementioned flag-kick.
HT: BOLTON 0 IMPS 0
Whilst the Imps emerged unchanged, the home side made a switch prior to the start of the second half with Mark Davies replacing Fabrice Muamba in midfield.
City were quickly out of the traps, winning a corner 90 second in but Hughton's delivery had far too much height on it and the ball went straight out of play for a throw-in.
The Trotters responded by forcing a corner of their own but John-Lewis was back defending and headed out of play. The resulting throw-in, played back to Matt Taylor, saw him fizz the ball into the six-yard box and it somehow managed to find its way past Swaibu, Watts and Klasnic with the former seemingly having the final touch as the ball flew past Rob Burch.
Within 30 seconds it was 2-0 and there was no doubting the goalscorer on this occasion as after Klasnic found space on the left he squared for Chung-Yong Lee who planted a firm first-time effort past Burch from 15 yards.
It was just the start we didn't want with the double blast clearly lifting the home team and their supporters and in a bid to get back into the game Michael Uwezu was brought on for John-Lewis. The home side made a change at the same time with Johan Elmander replacing Klasnic.
A surging run forward from Hughton saw him crudely upended by Mark Davies, giving the Imps a chance from a set-piece just outside the 'D' but the resultant effort came to nothing.
Uwezu's first touch saw him latch on to a stray pass before winning a corner off O'Brien but Watts couldn't rise high enough to connect with the cross and Uwezu's subsequent ball into the area was hacked clear by the home defence.
At the other end City had a let off when Burch came off his line to clear before he stopped a Gardner effort and Taylor struck the crossbar whilst City's response saw Brian Gilmour drag a long-range effort well wide of El Habsi's right hand post before the Scot tested the Omani international with a second shot.
The next attempt at goal saw Herd fire a deflected effort goalwards with El Habsi forced to fling himself to his right before tipping behind for a corner. The corner ended up finding its was to Kerr who drilled wide from 25 yards.
City continued to push for a goal with Kerr firing wide again and El Habsi forced to go down to claim another Herd shot and in a rare Bolton attack, Watts' sliced clearance led to a corner which ended up seeing substitute Elmander prod well over.
A third and final Bolton change came with 10 minutes on the clock saw Tamir Cohen replace Chung-Yong Lee but City continued to press, forcing their sixth corner of the game a couple of minutes later. El Habsi rose well though and claimed Gilmour's ball into the area.
Bolton immediately attacked and won a corner of their own and when this was played quickly to Kevin Davies, his ball into the area was met by centre-back Gary Cahill who planted a firm header past Burch to make it 3-0.
City's heads didn't drop though with El Habsi tipping a Herd drive behind but the resultant flag-kick came to nothing. Once again play switched to the opposite end and a Bolton corner which Davies headed wide.
The Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of three minutes were to be added on and sixty seconds into the added stages, skipper Scott Kerr was cautioned for a hefty challenge and when the free-kick was played forward, Cohen found space and duly picked out Mark Davies who had the easy job of prodding home from six yards out.
This proved to be the final action of the game with the final scoreline of 4-0 being more than flattering to the Premier League strugglers.
FT: BOLTON 4 IMPS 0
MATCH FACTS
LINCOLN CITY
1 Rob BURCH
2 Paul GREEN
5 Moses SWAIBU
22 Adam WATTS
38 Joe ANDERSON
11 Scott KERR
39 Matthew SAUNDERS
25 Cian HUGHTON
34 Chris HERD
35 Brian GILMOUR
14 Lenell JOHN-LEWIS
subs
37 Michael UWEZU (for JOHN-LEWIS 58)
4 Janos KOVACS
6 Danny HONE
10 Chris FAGAN
16 Joe HEATH
19 Shane CLARKE
20 Paul MUSSELWHITE
BOOKING: KERR (90+2)
BOLTON WANDERERS
26 Ali AL HABSI
15 Gretar STEINSSON
5 Gary CAHILL
31 Andy O'BRIEN
4 Paul ROBINSON
6 Fabrice MUAMBA
27 CHUNG-YONG Lee
7 Matt TAYLOR
11 Ricardo GARDNER
14 Kevin DAVIES
17 Ivan KLASNIC
subs
16 Mark DAVIES (for MUAMBA h/t)
9 Johan ELMANDER (for KLASNIC 58)
21 Tamir COHEN (for CHUNG-YONG LEE 80)
3 Jlloyd SAMUEL
12 Zat KNIGHT
18 Sam RICKETTS
1 Adam BOGDAN
GOALS: SWAIBU (49 og), CHUNG-YONG LEE (50), CAHILL (83), M DAVIES (90+2)
MATCH OFFICIALS
REFEREE: Michael Oliver
ASSISTANTS: Mick McDonough & William Smallwood
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Karl Evans
ATTENDANCE: 11,193 (3,107 City supporters)
