Lincoln City 1, Mansfield Town 1
Ten-man City were forced to settle for a point against Mansfield Town at the LNER Stadium, as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon.
The Imps looked on course for victory when they deservedly went ahead through Sonny Bradley’s first City goal, but the defender was shown a straight red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity.
Despite a resolute and determined performance from the Imps, Mansfield eventually made their numerical advantage count, when substitute Nathan Moriah-Welsh equalised inside the final 10 minutes.
Michael Skubala made six changes from the midweek win at Burton Albion, reverting to the same team that lined up against Plymouth Argyle in City’s last home game.
After a frantic opening to the game, the first chance of note fell to the Imps on 14 minutes when Conor McGrandles fired over the target from distance, before Bayliss shot wide moments later.
The Imps took the lead with 17 minutes on the clock. The visitors struggled to deal with a set piece and the ball broke for Collins. Unselfishly, the striker cut it back for Bradley, who stabbed the ball past Roberts for his first City goal.
City continued to be in ascendency, with Hackett picking out Collins with 25 minutes on the clock, only for Bowery to do just enough to deflect his header wide.
The Imps were dealt a blow when Bradley was shown a straight red card with half an hour played. George Maris latched onto a loose ball in the middle and moved past McGrandles before being upended by Bradley, who was judged to have denied a goalscoring opportunity.
From the resulting free kick, Blake-Tracy saw his effort whistle just past Wickens’ right post. With City a man down, Michael Skubala was forced to bring on a defender, with Freddie Draper the unlucky City player to make way.
The Imps managed to stand firm until Mansfield made their man advantage count with eight minutes remaining, when Moriah-Welsh converted a low cross to equalise.
Head coach Michael Skubala said: “We started brilliantly and were on top of the game. We got to our goal and it was one way traffic from there.
“The sending off obviously changed the game, but I thought we were magnificent with 10 men. I appreciated the efforts of the entire group and that includes the lads coming off the bench.
“Everyone put a shift in out there and even after going down to 10 men we’re coming off disappointed that we haven’t won the game, which is testament to how we played.”
“It shows what a good group we have here. The point keeps us unbeaten at home, which is important.
“The fans could see how much the players were giving for the shirt and they backed us all the way.
“On another day, the game could have gone our way, but I’m proud of how we battled.”
Picture: Vaughan Photography
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