Lincoln City 4, Northampton Town 0
Over 9,000 supporters braved the Tuesday night chill at the LNER Stadium to see Lincoln City beat Northampton Town 4-0.
The Imps made it 15 games unbeaten with goals from Ryan Oné, Jack Moylan, Ivan Varfolomeev and Rob Street.
Michael Skubala made three changes to the side that drew with Bolton Wanderers last Saturday. Oné came in for his first City start since completing his loan move from Sheffield United last month. Meanwhile Tom Bayliss and Ben House both came back into the side after recovering from injury layoffs.
The Imps had the lead after just 10 minutes when Oné netted his second goal in three City outings. The forward beat the offside trap to latch onto a slide-rule pass from Freddie Draper, before finishing emphatically past Ross Fitzsimons to make it 1-0.
City continued to press and made chances with the Cobblers having little say in the play and that continued into the second half and the Imps’ attacks paid off on 51 minutes. Moylan intercepted a loose pass from Fitzsimons before jinking his way into the area and poking the ball beyond the keeper, for his eigth goal of the season to make it 2-0.
Things went from bad to worse for the away side when they were reduced to 10 men on 56 minutes, when Jack Vale was sent off for a late challenge on Ben House.
The scoring could have been even higher if not for Fitzsimons’ great form in goal, but City pressure eventually told after the fresh legs of Ivan Varfolomeev and Dom Jefferies were introduced with 20 minutes to go.
The Ukrainian midfielder made a contribution almost straight away when he beat Fitzsimons with a fantastic strike from 25 yards.
Street got his goal on 76 minutes. Fitzsimons did well again to deny Moylan but the forward was there to convert the follow-up to make it 4-0.
Skubala said: "This match was important, as Saturday's will be at Mansfield Town and every other game until the end of the season. There's no easy game and we'll keep going.
"We're just taking each game as it comes, it's the job of the fans to get excited and dream while we stay professional and keep preparing for the next match to fight for every point we can."
The head coach was delighted with the energy shown throughout the squad: "It's not easy to go Saturday onto Tuesday, I had to change some faces to freshen things up a bit but those who came in did very well.
"I'm pleased with the whole group and every sub that came on and added intensity to the game.
"There were some great individual performances and then we were ruthless to go and get the goals."
Attendance: 9,242
Picture: Vaughan Photography
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