It was a case of taking your chances at Sincil Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon with Kettering Town securing a 2-0 success against a City side who had dominated the 90 minutes.

With the first half one-way traffic in the Imps' favour, the second period continued in the same vein but with that killer touch proving elusive, Kettering took advantage with Jean-Paul Marna firing his side into a 63rd minute lead with his side's first effort at goal.

The goal knocked the stuffing out of City and when Jean-Francois Christophe dragged substitute Adam Cunnington to the deck in the area, Moses Ashikodi doubled Kettering's advantage from the spot with eight minutes remaining.

A miserable afternoon for Frenchman Christophe was made even worse in added time when a lunge on Ibbra Sekajja saw him sent off for a second bookable offence.

Match report by John Vickers at Sincil Bank Stadium:

Manager Steve Tilson made three changes to his starting line-up for this Blue Square Bet Premier game against Kettering Town at Sincil Bank Stadium with two coming up front, namely in the shape of Jamie Taylor and Sam Smith who partnered each other with Bradley Barraclough moving to the left in place of Gavin McCallum.

Conditions were sunny, but blustery, as referee Kink Kinseley led the two teams out on to the pitch and once the formalities were finalised, things got underway

City were quickly out of the traps and when Ali Fuseini went on a quick break down the left in the third minute , he played in Barraclough who was crudely upended a foot outside the box by George Taft. After the Kettering man was cautioned, the free-kick ended with Alan Power having a shot charged down by the wall.

The Imps continued to dominate the early stages and another free-kick, given for a tug on Taylor by Jerel Ifil, forced the visitors on the back foot again and when this was cleared, Patrick Noubissie was booked for a late challenge on Fuseini.

On the quarter-hour mark Simon Russell forced the first corner of the game and when this half-cleared before being played back to the winger on the right, his deep centre was met by Barraclough who headed into the side netting.

Visiting 'keeper Laurie Walker was then at full stretch to palm behind a curling Fuseini effort as the Imps pushed forward again but when this corner fell to Josh Gowling, the skipper's shot on the turn flew well over.

Midway through the half, Taylor whistled a snap-shot a foot wide whilst a couple of minutes later Power had a great chance to open the scoring but, after he robbed robbed Jerel Ifil of the ball, he was denied by Walker who came quickly off his line to narrow the angles.

The next effort at goal saw Barraclough have a shot blocked by Walker's body before Taylor had a shot-cum-cross cleared and another palmed away as the pressure continued.

Walker was again in the right place in the 39th minute, spreading himself well to deny Taylor and when Fuseini pressed forward shortly afterwards to win a corner, Smith required treatment following an off-the-ball incident in the area.

Sol Davis then headed a Barraclough effort off the line as that final, killer touch, still evaded the Imps as the game approached a minimum of three added minutes which passed without incident.

HT: IMPS 0 KETTERING 0

The sides emerged unchanged before the Imps got the second half underway and again City were the first to press with Taylor being penalised for a foul on Walker after Gowling looped a long wind-assisted clearance forward.

Referee Kinseley came under scrutiny five minutes into the half when another ball over the top saw Walker come off his line before claiming under pressure from Smith; the 'keeper, however, appeared to clip the City striker with a raised boot. The incident went un-noticed by the man in the middle though with Smith able to resume his duties following treatment.

City's next attack ended with Fuseini clipping the foot of the post from 20 yards out before Barraclough skipped past his marker before crossing for Taylor who headed over from six yards.

Two more City corners quickly followed before Adam Cunnington replaced David Bridges and Steven Meecham came on for ex-Imp Jamie Clapham for the visitors.

Cunnington was quickly in the action, clashing with Mitchell Nelson who came off the worst in a challenge which saw the substitute appear to raise his arm.

Despite dominating for almost every second of the opening 64 minutes, City found themselves facing an uphill battle when, with their first shot on goal, Jean-Paul Marna gave Kettering the lead. The goal came after the Imps failed to clear their lines in the box and when the ball ran free, Marna was on hand to drill a low effort across Joe Anyon from 15 yards.

City looked for a quick response with Jerel Ifil denying Taylor with a superb saving challenge following another ball over the top whilst at the other end Nelson made a great recovery tackle to rob Moses Ashikodi who had got the better of the loanee close to the touchline.

A double change for the Imps came in the 69th minute with Gavin McCallum and Kyle Perry replacing Jamie Taylor and Sam Smith up front and shortly afterwards a City corner ended with Kettering going on the counter-attack with Marna having a shot easily held by Anyon.

The Imps responded with Barraclough winning another corner which was met by Gowling only to be hacked away for a throw-in. Perry then required treatment after hitting the floor heavily following an aerial challenge midway inside the Kettering half.

With 11 minutes remaining City won their 11th corner but the Town defence remained firm again. A couple of minutes later Jerel Ifil was booked for kicking the ball away after he as pulled up for a foul.

When play resumed, Town broke at pace and after substitute Cunnington barged his way forward, he was clearly dragged to the deck by Jean-Francois Christophe. Referee Kinseley had the easy task of awarding a penalty and when Moses Ashikodi neatly slotted home from the spot, the frustration amongst the City supporters was there for all to see.

A third and final Kettering change saw Ibra Sekajja replace Ashikodi in the 88th minute with the switch seeing the visitors waste some considerable time. More seconds elapsed when Cunnington was felled by Fuseini.

The Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of four minutes were to be added on and in the early stages of this extra time Perry curled an effort just wide.

A miserable afternoon for Frenchman Christophe was made even worse when his lunge on Sekajja on the half-way line was deemed worthy of a caution by referee Kinseley and, having already been booked, out came a second yellow followed by a red.

There was still time for Taft to waste a glorious chance when through on goal; the big midfielder delaying his final effort and when this was blocked, things came to a close.

FT: IMPS 0 KETTERING 2

LINCOLN CITY
1 Joe ANYON
27 Jean-Francois CHRISTOPHE
5 Josh GOWLING
16 Mitchell NELSON
3 John NUTTER
8 Alan POWER
10 Ali FUSEINI
15 Simon RUSSELL
19 Bradley BARRACLOUGH
7 Jamie TAYLOR
14 Sam SMITH

subs
30 Gavin McCALLUM (for TAYLOR 69)
9 Kyle PERRY (for SMITH 69)
4 Adam WATTS
6 Danny HONE
17 Nicky NICOLAU

BOOKING: CHRISTOPHE (82)

SENDING OFF: CHRISTOPHE (90+4)

KETTERING TOWN
12 Laurie WALKER
2 Phil IFIL
6 Jerel IFIL
18 George TAFT
3 Sol DAVIS
19 Jamie CLAPHAM
23 Patrick NOUBISSIE
20 David BRIDGES
21 Nathan KOO-BOOTHE
7 Moses ASHIKODI
10 Jean-Paul MARNA

subs
24 Adam CUNNINGTON (for BRIDGES 56)
16 Steven MEECHAM (for CLAPHAM 56)
27 Ibra SEKAJJA (for ASHIKODI 88)
22 Jaime NAVARRO
31 Aldi HAXHIA

GOALS: MARNA (63), ASHIKODI (82 pen)

BOOKINGS: TAFT (3), NOUBISSIE (8)

REFEREE: Nick Kinseley
ASSISTANTS: Craig Grundy & Martin Parker
FOURTH OFFICIAL: David Musgrave

ATTENDANCE: 2,269 (173 visiting supporters)