Peter Jackson’s troubled era got up and running with his first away win as manager in December 2007.
Jacko, replacing the dismissed John Schofield, saw his side claim their second victory in a row, leapfrogging Dagenham, Mansfield and Grimsby to set off up the table. It was a clinical second-half performance that saw us climb off the bottom of League Two with a morale-boosting 3–1 win at Edgeley Park.
Second-Half Surge Secures Valuable Away Points
It was a night of overdue joy for travelling fans, an early Christmas present coming on 4th December 2007, as a Ben Wright brace and a late strike from substitute Lenell John-Lewis earned the Imps a 3–1 win over 16th-placed Stockport County.
After a cagey first half in which both sides probed but lacked a cutting edge, City came out flying after the break. The opener came just minutes into the second period, as Conrad Logan failed to deal with a low cross from Dany N’Guessan, palming the ball into the path of Wright, who swept home instinctively to give Lincoln the lead.
The second followed shortly after, and again it was Wright on the mark. This time, the forward ghosted between defenders to meet an Owain Warlow delivery, lashing home a fine finish from eight yards out to double the Imps’ advantage.
Stockport’s frustrations began to show as substitute Adam Proudlock saw red just 13 minutes after coming on, dismissed for a reckless two-footed challenge on Paul Green that left the referee little choice.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Hatters did manage to pull a goal back on 80 minutes, with striker Liam Dickinson rifling a powerful effort past Ben Smith to set up a tense finish.
However, the game was settled almost immediately. Just sixty seconds later, young striker Lenell John-Lewis latched onto a clever Scott Kerr through-ball, coolly lifting the ball over the advancing Logan to restore City’s two-goal cushion and seal the points.
All three Lincoln goals came in a rampant second-half display that belied the struggles of recent weeks. Having looked blunt for much of the season, City found their cutting edge in style.
There were 5,260 spectators in attendance at Edgeley Park, with 191 hardy Imps supporters making the trip from Lincolnshire. The result saw Lincoln lift themselves off the bottom of the table, injecting new belief into a campaign that had, until this point, offered little cause for optimism.
Lincoln City: Ben Smith, Paul Green, Hamza Bencherif, Danny Hone, Gary Croft, Lee Frecklington, Scott Kerr (Jamie Hand), Jamie Forrester, Owain Warlow, Ben Wright, Dany N’Guessan (John-Lewis)
Unused Subs: Louis Dodds, Phil Watt, Alan Marriott
Goals: Wright (2), John-Lewis
Attendance: 5,260 (191 away)
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