Controversy reigned at the end of the game as vehement Dartford appeals for a penalty were waved away by the referee, Mr Swabey.
Adam Birchall’s goalbound shot was blocked by the arms of a Lincoln City defender, believed to be Andrew Boyce. The Dartford players were so incensed that six of them stopped to remonstrate with the official, but Lincoln were unable to capitalise.
Even the Imps’ players were in agreement with Darts’ manager Tony Burman, who chose his words carefully after the game, as he said “It was 100% handball – no question. Anywhere else on the pitch it’s handball. It was on target and it was handball. The referee says it was handball but it wasn’t intentional.”
Burman added that he thought his side had recovered well from a poor first half, where Dartford struggled to cope with the physicality of their fifth-placed opponents, and by the end of the game were looking the more likely to score. His side were undone by two set pieces where the ball rebounded to Lincoln players, whereas when the Darts struck the woodwork late on, the ball wouldn’t run to a home player.
From the start, Dartford struggled to cope with the movement and direct play of Lincoln, who constantly found space down either flank, and the lack of pressure on the ball led to Danny Rowe firing a 30-yard shot that Alan Julian pushed well away from his goal.
Danny Harris had Dartford’s best chance of the half, creating a chance from virtually nothing; turning sharply past Boyce before curling a shot goalwards that Farman parried away, only for Nat Brown to clear before Adam Birchall could react.
Lincoln took the lead on 20 minutes after Julian seemed to be bundled into touch by Ben Tomlinson, who would benefit most from the corner. Rowe put the corner into the 6-yard box, where Julian had to reach between 3 players to get a fist on the ball. The punch fell to Luke Foster, whose shot was pushed onto the post by the sprawling keeper, but the rebound landed perfectly for Tomlinson to stab home.
Boyce doubled the lead on 33 from Rowe’s next left-wing corner. The defender towered over Elliot Bradbrook, only to see his header saved on the line by Julian, but the rebound fell conveniently back to Boyce, who fired into the left corner.
Tyrone Sterling, playing as an emergency centre-back following an injury to Matt Mitchell-King at Tamworth, glanced a header wide, and Dartford’s frustrations were compounded when Matt Fry picked up a booking for a lunge on Mo Fofana.
Tony Burman’s half-time team talk and early substitution, bringing on Ryan Hayes for James Rogers, had the desired effect as Dartford started closing down the Lincoln players, limiting the visitors to counter-attacks.
Harris had a half-chance that was well saved by Farman, but it was Dartford’s willingness to fight for the ball that paid dividends on 59. Noble won the ball against 3 Lincoln players, Birchall and Harris exchanged passes before Alex Woodyard worked the ball across the field to Hayes. The winger curled a delicious right foot cross to the back post where Bradbrook ghosted in to plant his header in the right corner for his first goal of the season.
Hayes and Bradbrook almost repeated their link-up two minutes later, as a Hayes freekick was whipped dangerously across the area, and had Bradbrook been even an inch taller, his desperate dive may have made the necessary contact,
Lee Burns covered well to ensure that Fofana couldn’t get a clear shot on goal, and Tomlinson found himself free in front of goal from a Fofana flick, but with Julian rooted to his line, Tomlinson headed over.
With two minutes left, a Hayes corner found Max Cornhill free on the edge of the box, and the midfielder’s shot flew through the crowd, back off the right hand post, where Sterling was unable to react quickly enough to direct a header on target.
As the game moved into stoppage time, the ball broke to Adam Birchall inside the area, who turned and fired goalward; a shot that was blocked by a Lincoln arm, and after the protestations died down, so had Dartford’s last chance.
DARTFORD: Alan Julian, Lee Burns, Matt Fry, Kenny Clark, Tyrone Sterling, Lee Noble, Alex Woodyard, Elliot Bradbrook, James Rogers, Danny Harris, Adam Birchall.
Subs not used: Nathan Collier, Tom Wellham.
Goal: Elliot Bradbrook 59
Bookings: Matt Fry 44, Elliot Bradbrook 90
LINCOLN CITY: Paul Farman, Tom Miller, Andrew Boyce, Nat Brown, Sean Newton, Mo Fofana, Jon Nolan, Luke Foster, Danny Rowe, Wade Fairhurst, Ben Tomlinson.
Subs not used: Adi Yussef, Dan Gray, Bohan Dixon, David Preece.
Goals: Ben Tomlinson 20, Andrew Boyce 33
Booking: Jon Nolan 51
Attendance: 1,306
Referee: Mr Lee Swabey
Assistants: Mr Andrew Parker and Mr John Pike
4th Official: Mr George Sprague