Lincoln City 1, AFC Wimbledon 0
Ryan Oné’s late strike sealed victory over AFC Wimbledon and took Lincoln City to within one point of automatic promotion to the Championship.
However, the Imps had to work to stretch their unbeaten run to 23 games and didn’t get on the scoresheet until the 88th minute.
Head coach Michael Skubala made one change to the starting line-up, with Tom Bayliss back in the side in place of Ivan Varfolomeev - who had only returned from international duty with Ukraine U21s the previous day.
There were few chances in the first half and in the second Wimbledon continued to dig in preventing City from creating scoring opportunities.
After swapping out Street for Oné, and Varfolomeev for Bayliss earlier in the second period, Skubala made a triple change on 80 minutes with Hackett, Darikwa and House coming off for Alfie Lloyd, Deji Elerewe and Dom Jefferies.
The Imps’ efforts were finally rewarded on 88 minutes when a cross from Moylan outside the box made its way into the centre where a line of home players were waiting - Towler knocked the ball back for Oné to tap into the back of the net (pictured below).
Fans at the LNER stadium (pictured above) knew exactly what the goal could mean as City take on Reading away on Easter Monday, but Skubala is continuing to focus on one game at a time. This game was evidence of just how tough it is to win football matches at every level.
“Credit to them for how they set up, it was a hard-fought game. In these matches, it is important to find a way to win and we did that. It is an excellent three points. In this run of 23 games unbeaten, we’ve had to find different ways to win football matches and we did that.
“I’m really pleased with the character of the group, they are so together and it was great to get that winning moment.”
“It is worth just another three points, honestly," he added when talking about the upcoming match.
"We found a way to win against AFC Wimbledon and we need to do that again on Monday. We know it won’t be easy against another strong team who are fighting for promotion themselves and on a great run at home.
“It is exciting, everyone is fighting for something, and these are the games you want to be involved in.”
Attendance: 10,088
Pictures: Vaughan Photography
