Lincoln City slumped to a 2-0 defeat on the road to free-scoring Peterborough United this afternoon.
The Imps made the trip to the Weston Homes Stadium on the back of their impressive first win under their new manager, Michael Appleton, against Sunderland last weekend.
They sat 11th in Sky Bet League One, four places below The Posh in seventh.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Michael Appleton explained how he was expecting a tough test against the clinical Peterborough side, whose strikers Mo Eisa and Ivan Toney were the two top-scoring players in the division.
The opening half failed however to live up the excitement of goals that seemed a guarantee before the kick-off.
The first 25 minutes saw Peterborough dominate the possession, with Marcus Maddison looking the most dangerous player on the pitch. A succession of Lincoln fouls as well as some creative footwork and passing moves gave the Posh midfielder plenty of crossing opportunities, none of which amounted to anything threatening though.
The Imps themselves also seemed to lack the cutting edge to make the breakthrough after they created an abundance of chances against Sunderland last weekend.
The 2,788 travelling Imps fans had to wait until injury time in the first half before their team got them off their feet.
Lincoln moved the ball well around the midfield and supplied Andrade to the right of the penalty area. Some good footwork enabled him to fizz a cross into Walker, whose touch from inside the 6-yard box produced a dramatic save from Christy Pym in the Peterborough net.
Half-Time: 0-0.
The second half started more dramatically, with an injury scare surrounding Michael O’Connor. The Lincoln midfielder went down immediately after halftime when it appeared a Peterborough player collided with him straight after the restart.
Surrounded by Lincoln’s medical staff, O’Connor stayed down for 6 minutes, eventually leaving the pitch to a standing ovation from the travelling Lincoln fans, but boos from the Peterborough faithful.
He tried to continue playing, but was replaced in the 56th minute by Tom Pett, who made his first appearance since returning from injury.
The second half then appeared as though it would continue where the first 45 minutes had left off. Neither side troubled the other, with both teams seeming as though a draw would have been a good result.
The match had a scoreless draw written all over it, until Siriki Dembele replaced Mo Eisa for Peterborough in the 72nd minute and changed the game in the favour of the home side.
With 74 minutes on the clock, Dembele broke down the left hand side with a burst of pace and made it into the box. His cut back found Louis Reed on the edge of the area, who lined up the strike and thundered the ball of the bar and into the back of the net to put his side in front.
Lincoln needed a response, but much like the rest of the match, they didn’t threaten the Peterborough goal or look like scoring.
Instead, Peterborough doubled their lead in the 88th minute.
Niall Mason was afforded time on the ball from inside his own half and played a long ball over the top of the Lincoln defence. The pass was met by Ivan Toney to the right of the penalty area, who took one look at Josh Vickers coming off of his line and with his first touch, chipped the ball over the head of the advancing keeper and into the top corner at the back post.
Lincoln then became more dangerous, putting pressure on the Peterborough defence with a number of crosses.
Jake Hesketh, who replaced Jack Payne in the 81st minute, worked his way past Louis Reed on the edge of the area who, already on a booking, clipped the ankles of the Lincoln attacker and subsequently received his second yellow of the match.
The fourth official added 9 minutes of injury time and the Imps continued to apply pressure and seek for a way back into the match.
Deep into added time, a cross from the right hand side for Lincoln was met by the head of Akinde who forced Pym to produce yet another superb save, diving away to the top right corner.
The Imps resurgence was too little too late however, and they ultimately couldn’t find a way past Peterborough.
The result leaves Lincoln 12th in the Sky Bet League One and they will now face Shrewsbury back at Sincil Bank on Friday night.
Meanwhile, Peterborough United have moved into the play-off places- they’re 3rd.
Attendance: 9,872 (2,788)
