Deflated boss Andy Crosby criticised Port Vale’s naivety after Olamide Shodipo’s last-gasp equaliser for Lincoln saw his side’s winless run stretch to nine Sky Bet League One games with a 1-1 draw.
The Valiants looked set to land an elusive win after Ben Garrity’s first-half effort, but substitute Shodipo slid in late on to steal a share of the spoils at Sincil Bank.
Both sides ended with 10 men after Oliver Arblaster and Paudie O’Connor both saw red in an eventful second half.
“It feels like a defeat,” said Crosby. “It was naive defending at a crucial moment trying to win a ball you can’t win.
“The one clear-cut chance they have in the game and they score.
“It’s very raw and it’s tough to take at this moment in time.
“We lose a player in the second half and that’s naivety again. You’re on a yellow card and you give the referee a decision to make.
“The referee then evens the game up and we go 10-v-10 and they were in the ascendency then.
“A little lapse of concentration and we conceded late on. It’s frustrating.
“For all our good play we still missed chances. We’ve got to become more ruthless.
“This game is unforgiving, just like life sometimes. When you’ve got a team on the rack like then then you’ve got to score and take the game away from them.
“We’re 16 games in and we’re a really nice team to look at and from box to box but we lack that clinical edge. They’re got to find it themselves and we’ve got to find it collectively.”
The Imps recovered from a slow start, which frustrated the home fans, to seal a late point.
Interim boss Tom Shaw said: “It wasn’t a good start, but good sides and good players come through that and we’ve shown that with how strongly we’ve finished in the end.
“I thought we were outstanding with the ball 10-v-10. I thought we were bold with every tactical change we made.
“We’ve had 70 per cent of the ball in the second half and nine opportunities. It felt like we had an extra man.
“We were really pleased with how the lads went about it. There are two ways to try and chase it; you can either lump it into the box or play with more control. We challenged them to do that and they did.
“If the fans were frustrated then that’s something we’re trying to improve and evolve. But we don’t have the profile of a number nine so we have to try and find other ways to get into the box.
“I hope the supporters can see how well we executed that in the second half.
“We finished the game strong and ran out of time to win it.”
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