Match report...
Loanee Charlee Adams was handed a place in the starting line-up following his return from Birmingham City and Ben Tomlinson was recalled for this Vanarama Conference home fixture against Dartford as Arnaud Mendy and Conner Robinson were forced to sit out through injury.
The Imps kicked off attacking the Bridge McFarland Stand and were looking to break forward quickly in the opening five minutes but the final ball was lacking. In fact the first half-chance came Dartford's way when Nat Brown was penalised for a needless seventh minute tug on Harry Crawford's shirt. Ryan Hayes whipped in a dangerous free-kick which lead to a corner which was fortuately played straight out of play.
A couple of minutes later Dartford's Danny Harris went to ground holding his head but nothing was spotted by anyone with referee Steve Rushton happy for play to continue as the visitors enjoyed a spell of possession.
A sweeping City move involving Adams, Marcus Marshall & Jake Caprice leads to a City corner on right shortly before the quarter hour mark but Sean Newton's near-post delivery was cleared. Another Newton corner was then dealt with after he had a free-kick cleared behind.
Marcus Marshall was booked in the 18th minute for a sliding challenge on Elliot Bradbrook. The City man clearly won the ball but referee Rushton decided there was intent and out came a yellow card.
Two minutes later skipper Alan Power had a low saved well by Jason Brown before a great run from Sam-Yorke saw him gain control and sprint forward only to drill his final effort a foot wide.
Sam-Yorke forced a third corner in the 27th minute as the Imps pressed forward again and whe this was played short by Power to Newton, he sent in a peach of a centre and there to meet it was TOM MILLER who powered a header past Brown and into the roof of the net.
Dartford's response saw Hayes cross for Lee Noble who saw his diving header crash against the bar before the ball bounced out for a goal-kick. Five minutes later Danny Harris was booked for a foul on Power.
As the half wore on a Dartford corner brought about a scramble with Paul Farman hobbling away before play restarted with a free-kick to the Imps for offside. At the other end a swift City break ended with Power and Bencherif linking up only for the ball to run away from the former as he prepared to shoot.
The half ended after one additional minute of play.
HT: IMPS 1 DARTFORD 0
Loanee Charlee Adams was handed a place in the starting line-up following his return from Birmingham City and Ben Tomlinson was recalled for this Vanarama Conference home fixture against Dartford as Arnaud Mendy and Conner Robinson were forced to sit out through injury.
The Imps kicked off attacking the Bridge McFarland Stand and were looking to break forward quickly in the opening five minutes but the final ball was lacking. In fact the first half-chance came Dartford's way when Nat Brown was penalised for a needless seventh minute tug on Harry Crawford's shirt. Ryan Hayes whipped in a dangerous free-kick which lead to a corner which was fortuately played straight out of play.
A couple of minutes later Dartford's Danny Harris went to ground holding his head but nothing was spotted by anyone with referee Steve Rushton happy for play to continue as the visitors enjoyed a spell of possession.
A sweeping City move involving Adams, Marcus Marshall & Jake Caprice leads to a City corner on right shortly before the quarter hour mark but Sean Newton's near-post delivery was cleared. Another Newton corner was then dealt with after he had a free-kick cleared behind.
Marcus Marshall was booked in the 18th minute for a sliding challenge on Elliot Bradbrook. The City man clearly won the ball but referee Rushton decided there was intent and out came a yellow card.
Two minutes later skipper Alan Power had a low saved well by Jason Brown before a great run from Sam-Yorke saw him gain control and sprint forward only to drill his final effort a foot wide.
Sam-Yorke forced a third corner in the 27th minute as the Imps pressed forward again and whe this was played short by Power to Newton, he sent in a peach of a centre and there to meet it was TOM MILLER who powered a header past Brown and into the roof of the net.
Dartford's response saw Hayes cross for Lee Noble who saw his diving header crash against the bar before the ball bounced out for a goal-kick. Five minutes later Danny Harris was booked for a foul on Power.
As the half wore on a Dartford corner brought about a scramble with Paul Farman hobbling away before play restarted with a free-kick to the Imps for offside. At the other end a swift City break ended with Power and Bencherif linking up only for the ball to run away from the former as he prepared to shoot.
The half ended after one additional minute of play.
HT: IMPS 1 DARTFORD 0
Both sides emerged unchanged for the start of the second half with the first half-chance following the restart seeing Crawford curl wide from 20 yards for Dartford. City's response saw Newton slice well wide after a long Miller throw was cleared into his path.
Dartford left-back Tom Bender was booked six minute in for a crude body check on Caprice after the City man intercepted a free-kick before sprinting forward. Noble was then spoken to for a foul on Sam-Yorke.
Power fired a long-range effort just wide before Tom Bradbrook replaced Danny Harris for the visitors on the hour mark. Bencherif was then booked for a mistimed challenge on Rory McAuley.
Power had an effort held by Brown and a superb Newton cross prodded wide by Tomlinson as the Imps pressed for a second but Sam-Yorke's frustration got the better of him in the 66th minute when he pushed Noble in the face close to the visiting dugout. Referee Steve Rushton consulted with Fourth Official Ian Smedley before brandishing a red card to the City striker.
Two minutes after Bencherif headed a Newton free-kick over, Jordan Burrow replaced Marcus Marshall for the Imps and he was quickly bundled over by Cornhill for a crude introduction. An Adams cross then hit a visiting defender on the arm but nothing was spotted by the officials.
With seven minutes remaining Farman was booked for taking too long over a goal-kick and four minutes later he punched away a corner before getting clattered as he hit the deck. He's was OK to continue though.
Just before a minimum of three minutes was indicated, Crawford fired an effort inches wide; the Dartford players surrounded referee Rushton but their appeals for a corner fell on deaf ears.
Farman pulled off a fantastic one-handed save to palm behind a dipping volley from range in the first of these extra minutes and when the City keeper claimed a hopeful ball forward, there was still another minute played before an offside flag robbed the visitors of a last-gasp leveller.
FT: IMPS 1 DARTFORD 0
LINCOLN CITY
1 Paul FARMAN
17 Jake CAPRICE
2 Tom MILLER
23 Nat BROWN
3 Sean NEWTON
5 Hamza BENCHERIF
20 Charlee ADAMS
8 Alan POWER
22 Marcus MARSHALL
11 Ben TOMLINSON
15 Delano SAM-YORKE
subs
9 Jordan BURROW (for MARSHALL 72)
14 Jon NOLAN
19 Alex SIMMONS
24 Thierry AUDEL
26 Nick TOWNSEND
GOAL: MILLER (27)
BOOKINGS: MARSHALL (18), BENCHERIF (61), FARMAN (83)
SENDING OFF: SAM-YORKE (66)
DARTFORD
1 Jason BROWN
2 Tom BENDER
4 Rory McAULEY
5 Elliot BRADBROOK
6 Max CORNHILL
7 Ryan HAYES
8 Lee NOBLE
11 Danny HARRIS
14 Mat MITCHEL-KING
17 Harry CRAWFORD
19 Callum DRIVER
subs
9 Luke DALEY
15 Nathan COLLIER
21 Deren IBRAHIM
23 Tom BRADBROOK (for HARRIS 60)
BOOKINGS: HARRIS (37), BENDER (51)
REFEREE: Steve Rushton
ASSISTANTS: Neil Guest & James Thornhill
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Ian Smedley
ATTENDANCE: 2,483 (60 visiting supporters)
