A Celtic XI lifted the John Reames Memorial Trophy on Saturday afternoon with the Bhoys defeating the Imps 4-1 at a sunny Sincil Bank Stadium.
Having taken the lead in the 16th minite through summer signing Albert Jarrett, who blasted home following good work from the equally impressive Mustapha Carayol, City found themselves going into the break 2-1 down after Daryl Murphy and Ben Hutchinson made the most of some hesitant Imps' defending.
Two goals in as many minutes midway through the second half from Hutchinson and Simon Ferry completed the scoring whilst Celtic 'keeper Cervi certainly kept his side in the game, producing two top quality saves to deny Josh O'Keefe and Delroy Facey.
Match report by John Vickers at Sincil Bank Stadium:
The Imps welcomed a Celtic XI side to Sincil Bank for the first home friendly of the summer, looking to extend their 100% pre-season record with success over the Bhoys, who were backed by a large, noisy band of followers in the Co-op Stand.
With the sun shining brightly, Celtic kicked off attacking the GoCar Stand end from the off and the Scots spent the opening stages keeping possession in a bid to unlock a City backline which included Adam Watts, who was continuing his rehabilitation from the broken leg suffered at Grimsby Town last season.
The Imps' first attack of note came in the seventh minute with Gavin McCallum playing in Albert Jarrett who fizzed a low effort a foot wide from the edge of the box whilst at the other end Paul McGowan tried his luck from range but his effort flew well over the bar.
A knock to Celtic's Paul Slane in only the 11th minute brought about the first change of the game with James Keatings coming off the bench to slot on the right hand side of midfield. A couple of minutes later Celtic won a corner on their right but Watts rose high to head clear and when the ball was played back in, Milan Misun powered a header wide of Joe Anyon's goal.
City's next attack, in the 16th minute, saw them open the scoring with two of Chris Sutton's new signings opening up the Bhoys' defence with clinical effect.
Having received the ball on the left, Mustapha Carayol twisted his way past a couple of players before swinging in a deep centre. There was Albert Jarrett who, after he brought the ball under control, duly blasted an unstoppable left-footed effort low past Dominic Cervi to bring the Imps' fans to their feet.
Our minutes after the goal, a clash of heads between Drewe Broughton and Thomas Rogne saw both players receive treatment, although the City striker definitely came off the worse in the collision with a good minute passing before he sat up. The big front man certainly looked to be in some discomfort as he was helped to the touchline by physio Michael Wait and was immediately replaced by Delroy Facey.
When play resumed Darryl Murphy headed a corner over the bar whilst City's response saw Facey and Carayol combine before the latter, after skinning Richie Towell, had his cross deflected behind for a corner. The flag-kick ended with Carayol blasting just wide from 15 yards.
Carayol and Jarrett were causing the visiting full-backs all sorts of problems, with the duo switching wings at regular intervals as the half-hour mark approached, whilst Clark Keltie was beginning to pull the strings in the middle of the park having impressed in the three away friendlies leading up to the match.
Celtic, meanwhile, were also starting to get back into the match with Murphy heading a Towell centre a foot wide and with seven minutes to go before the break former Sunderland striker Murphy dispossesed O'Keefe before drilling the Hoops level with a snap-shot from the edge of the box which beat Anyon before nestling in the net via the left-hand upright.
Three minutes later, and four minutes before the break, Celtic took the lead when, after Anyon had kept out a shot from the right of the box, Ben Hutchinson swung and miskicked but, after the loose ball ran in his favour, promptly blasted into the roof of the net from six yards out.
The Fourth Official indicated that a minimum of two minutes were to be added and midway through these extra stages, Josh O'Keefe had a shot blocked before a handball by Towell saw Carayol fire in free-kick which Misun headed over for a corner. Once this flag-kick was cleared by the Celtic defence, referee Bobby Madley blew for the break.
HT: IMPS 1 CELTIC XI 2
With neither side making any further changes during the break, the Imps restarted proceedings and were quickly on the attack with McCallum squaring for O'Keefe who saw his goalbound drive superbly tipped behind by Cervi. The resultant corner, however, was wasted, and as Celtic went on the attack, Murphy was penalised for high kicking on skipper Moses Swaibu.
At the other end Carayol skipped through three challenges but his attempted one-two with Facey didn't come off and the pair were in the action again in the 54th minute when Carayol laid the ball off to Facey who saw his curling effort well saved by Cervi.
Paul Green replaced Adam Watts in the 57th minute with both players getting a great reception having finished last season on the injured list. The next effort at goal came six minutes later when Ryan Conroy tested Anyon with a free-kick 25 yards out.
The action remained at the wrong end of the field as far as the Imps were concerned and, in the 64th minute, Ben Hutchinson bagged his second of the game after the ball was played to him after Anyon had parried a shot away.
Before play restarted, Daryl Murphy was replaced by Filip Twardzik and he hadn't had time to touch the ball before midfielder Simon Ferry curled in a low effort which beat Anyon and nestled in the bottom right corner of the net to make it 4-1 to his side.
Scott Kerr for Gavin McCallum was City's third change of the afternoon but Celtic were brimming with confidence now and only a great double challenge from Green saw him deny Hutchinson hat-trick. "Let's all laugh at England" mocked the travelling green and white shirted supporters, before they belted out a rendition of "there's only one Chris Sutton".
Declan Gallagher and goalkeeper Daniele Giordano were the next Celtic men off the bench, with Thomas Rogne and Dominic Cervi the players coming off. Giordano was quickly in the action, forcing O'Keefe to fire wide from a narrowing angle after he was played in by Carayol.
With 15 minutes on the clock, Andy Hutchinson replaced Facey as the lone man up front; McCallum having been replaced earlier by Kerr who was operating in a midfield three. Hutchinson's first taste of action saw him upended on the edge of the box but Carayol's curling effort from the dead ball flew well over Giordano's bar.
Jordan Lowdon and Sean Fitzharris for Ryan Conroy and Cillian Sheridan completed the Celtic substitutions with eight minutes of normal time remaining.
Keltie almost caught Giordano out from long range three minutes later before Carayol forced a corner on the left. This ended with Jarrett firing tamely into the side netting.
One added minute came and went without incident, although Swaibu got in a great challenge to deny Keatings a run on goal, before referee Madley brought proceedings to a close.
FT: IMPS 1 CELTIC XI 4
TEAM SHEET
LINCOLN CITY
1 Joe ANYON
25 Cian HUGHTON
4 Adam WATTS
5 Moses SWAIBU
3 Joe ANDERSON
7 Mustapha CARAYOL
17 Albert JARRETT
14 Josh O'KEEFE
8 Clark KELTIE
10 Drewe BROUGHTON
9 Gavin McCALLUM
subs
18 Delroy FACEY (for BROUGHTON 23)
2 Paul GREEN (for WATTS 57)
11 Scott KERR (for McCALLUM 66)
22 Andy HUTCHINSON (for FACEY 76)
16 Shane CLARKE
19 Jamie CLAPHAM
23 Kern MILLER
20 Paul MUSSELWHITE
GOAL: JARRETT (16)
CELTIC XI
1 Dominic CERVI
2 Richie TOWELL
3 Milan MISUN
4 Simon FERRY
5 Thomas ROGNE
6 Cillian SHERIDAN
7 Paul SLANE
8 Paul McGOWAN
9 Daryl MURPHY
10 Ben HUTCHINSON
11 Ryan CONROY
subs
12 James KEATINGS (for SLANE 11)
14 Filip TWARDZIK (for MURPHY 64)
13 Daniele GIORDANO (for CERVI 74)
17 Declan GALLAGHER (for ROGNE 74)
15 Jordan LOWDON (for CONROY 82)
16 Sean FITZHARRIS (for SHERIDAN 82)
GOALS: MURPHY (38), HUTCHINSON (41, 64), FERRY (66)
MATCH OFFICIALS
REFEREE: Bobby Madley
ASSISTANTS: Ricky Wootton & Ian Johnson
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Luke Watson
ATTENDANCE: 3,780
