Lincoln City eased past a woefully off-colour Fulham side to record their tenth home victory of the season at Sincil Bank this afternoon thanks to goals from Matt Carbon and David Hill.
The home side were the sharper from the first whistle with Carbon’s clever flick-on finding Tony Daws in space in the second minute but he was unable to squeeze a shot past Lee Harrison. Fulham’s first opener saw Imps goalkeeper Steve Sherwood easily save a tame shot from Alan Cork. The 41 year-old was far more seriously tested by a 25-yard effort from Micky Adams, but Sherwood superbly tipped over the former Southampton man’s free-kick as it looked destined for the top corner.
Lincoln could have taken the lead from their very next attack when the sliding Dean West sent an effort flashing wide of Harrison’s far post. The opening goal arrived four minutes before half time with a clever West dummy sending Gary Bannister free down the left flank. Bannister’s cross picked out Carbon, who fired home his seventh goal of the season from twelve yards out.
City doubled their lead within six minutes of the restart when Hill hit an unstoppable strike from 25 yards. A header from Neil Matthews fell kindly for the midfielder, who drove a venomous shot past the helpless Harrison in the blink of an eye. Fulham offered little in the way of a riposte until the final minute of normal time when an effort from substitute John Marshall forced another fine save out of the superb Sherwood.
LINCOLN CITY: Sherwood; West, Dixon, Smith, Greenall, Brown, Matthews, Daws, Carbon, Bannister, Hill.
BOOKED: Carbon, Matthews, Huckerby.
GOALS: Carbon (41), Hill (51).
FULHAM: Harrison; Jupp, Herrera, Hurlock, Moore, Blake, M. Thomas (Marshall 58), Morgan, Cork, Adams, Hamill (Cusack 58). Sub (not used): Bolt.
BOOKED: Jupp, Moore, Herrera.
REFEREE: Ken Breen (Liverpool).
ATTENDANCE: 2,932.
