Lincoln City’s academy completed another useful pre-season exercise with a 2-0 defeat against Skegness Town on Tuesday evening.
The young Imps held their own for long periods against senior non-league opposition, with the game remaining goalless until the closing stages. Skegness eventually broke the deadlock through Kyle Radford in the 77th minute before Dec Johnson added a second eight minutes later.
The academy described the fixture as another chance to get “more minutes in the tank”, and the scoreline does not appear to tell the full story of a contest in which Skegness were made to work for their victory. The hosts were preparing for the start of their United Counties League Premier North campaign, while also using the game to assess four trialists.
Radford’s opener arrived shortly after he had been introduced from the bench, with Johnson then making sure of the result in the 85th minute. Despite the late goals, it was another valuable test for Lincoln’s under-18 players as they continued their preparations against experienced adult opposition.
City named a youthful side that included Shaw, Trialist A, L. Oliver, Parks, Voul, Sagoo, Darikwa, Wilson, Fifield, Sidhu and Kennealey. Male, Mande, Eyres, Don-Duncan and Huggins were among the substitutes.
Skegness, managed by a former Lincoln academy player, Gary King, now turn their attention to Saturday’s league opener away at Hucknall Town, while City’s academy will take the positives from a competitive outing that remained finely balanced until the final quarter of an hour.
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