Reading 0, Lincoln City 1
James Collins scored with his first touch of the game to hand the Imps victory away at promotion-chasing Reading.
The Imps finally got their reward for an excellent performance on the road when the striker latched onto a Reeco Hackett free kick to score shortly after coming on as a substitute - and it was enough for the Imps to become only the fourth side to win at the Select Car Leasing Stadium this term.
City head coach Michael Skubala made four changes to his starting XI. Freddie Draper and Ben House came into the attack, in place of Collins and Erik Ring respectively. There was also a start in midfield for Ethan Hamilton, who replaced Conor McGrandles, and Tom Hamer came into defence, with Lewis Montsma making way.
Skubala felt his side fully deserved their win at Reading, saying he loved the performance put in by every players but added that there is still more to come in the final three games of the season.
The points to move the Imps up to 11th in the table as City continued their strong finish to the campaign and sealed its role as the end-of-season ‘party-pooper’ for the teams hoping to cement promotion – the side takes on Bolton Wanderers at 3pm today.
Skubala said: "You can't question the character of this group - to come to a team that's chasing for play-offs and dominate as we did at times was so impressive. In the last 10 minute we had to dig in but I thought it was a top performance.
"We definitely had the threat and some exciting moments - I loved everything about us and everyone played their part to a man.
"We want to keep pushing for the rest of this season - we're winning games but also learning a lot, and here's a blueprint there for us to move forward."
Reeco Hackett provided the set-piece delivery for Collins' goal, and Skubala said the centre forward - who joined the club in January - is a great player to play alongside up front.
He said: "He's been good since he came in, that know-how and nous is a proper help. It's nice to play with him because you know if you put any good ball into the area he's going to be there.
"Away from home we are really dangerous on the counterattack, and again here we showed how we can hurt top teams."
Pictures: Vaughan Photography
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