By George Conway.
Lincoln City fought from behind twice as they beat Burton Albion, with Tom Hopper scoring a brace.
The visitors to LNER Stadium took the lead in the sixth and 30th minute through Joe Powell, but Hopper cancelled the goals out each time- scoring his first goals for the Imps since he joined from Southend United in January.
Joe Morrell gave Lincoln the lead for the first time in the game in the second half, before Josh Vickers saved a Burton penalty which was given away by new defensive signing Alan Sheehan.
In a week with two departures, one arrival and a lot of speculation on which side Michael Appleton would select, there were a lot of options to be considered.
The notable change was at the back as former Luton captain Alan Sheehan was handed his debut at centre back.
As Lincoln City got the game underway it was clear that they had adopted a 4-3-3 formation which was a change up from the previous 4-4-2 formation.
Burton Albion started the game the better of the two sides as they had most of the possession and the better of the chances.
It didn’t take long for the Brewers to break through the City defence as in the 6th minute Joe Powell opened the scoring after latching onto a Jamie Murphy pass and finished coolly low to Josh Vickers’ left hand side.
The Brewers could have doubled their lead just minutes later as Powell popped up again, but his shot was blocked by Neal Eardley.
From here the Imps grew into the game, getting their first chance in the 17th minute as Jorge Grant beat three players and squared it to Joe Morrell who put his shot over the bar.
Four minutes later however, City got the goal they were looking for as Anthony Scully capitalised on a loose Albion pass on the right flank, allowing him to set up Tom Hopper for his first Imps goal.
Scully then had the chance to double the Imps’ lead but sent his shot wide.
Moments later, in the 30th minute City were ruing the miss as Powell doubled his goal tally and the visitors’ lead. Lucas Akin found Reece Hutchinson who squared it for the midfielder to tap into the empty goal.
Once again Albion didn’t make their lead last, as Grant found Tom Hopper in the box who finished excellently to grab his second and bring Lincoln level once again.
The second half, much like the first wasn’t short of drama.
Early in the half Burton had the chance to take the lead once again. However, Conor Coventry was on hand to block Akins shot and keep the game all square.
This time it was the Brewers who were regretting their missed chance. In the 63rd minute Lincoln took the lead for the first time in the game thanks to Joe Morrell who rifled his volley passed Garratt in the Albion goal, to put Michael Appleton’s side 3-2 up.
To top off the drama of the game, Burton had the opportunity to pull one back as Alan Sheehan handled the ball in the box leading to a penalty. Once again Akins was denied, as Josh Vickers pulled off a great save low to his right-hand side.
As the game came to a close the visitors were pushing for another goal, but this came to no avail, meaning Lincoln City picked up all three points at LNER Stadium.
The win means City end their seven-game run without a win and move up to 14th in the Sky Bet League One.
Attendance: 8,474 (543)
MOTM: Tom Hopper