Lincoln City 1, Port Vale 0
The Imps made it three consecutive wins at the LNER Stadium as they beat Port Vale thanks to a first-half strike from Reeco Hackett.
The first half was full of chances for both sides, but it was City who found the breakthrough just beyond the half-hour mark when some good link-up play between Jack Moylan and Adam Reach culminated in Hackett finding the back of the net from range and it proved enough for Michael Skubala's side to continue their excellent home form.
Head coach Skubala made four changes from the side who suffered defeat against Wycombe Wanderers a week ago. Freddie Draper returned to the side after bagging a goal off the bench last weekend as did the other substitute goalscorer Justin Obikwu. The final two changes saw Jack Moylan join the Imps midfield and Reeco Hackett make a first start in over a month.
The Imps are fourth in the league on goal difference but have played more games than those above them so Skubala was pleased to see his side capitalise on their strong home form.
And he praised City’s supporters for their role in the success. “We love it at home because we’ve talked about it becoming a fortress and it is up to us to keep it going.
“I thought the fans were magnificent, especially towards the end of the game when they were really helping the team.
“It’s a wet day, hard to come out but I felt we packed the stadium brilliantly, it made it a tough place for them and we’re going to continue to need the fans.”
Reeco Hackett was also happy to see the Imps claim victory and was pleased to see the team’s work on the training ground paid off with the goal.
“Ultimately it is a good three points. In the first half we were really good and deserved to be in front.
“The goal came from something that we’d been working on all week. I was in the ‘cutback zone’ and I knew Reachy would find me.
“I’m looking forward to watching the goal back, the keeper got a hand to it but it ended up in the goal so I’m happy.
“If we’re going to get to where we want to be come the end of the season, we’re going to have to grind out results and we’ve done that.”
Attendance: 8,503 (658 away)
Picture: Vaughan Photography
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