Lincoln boss Michael Skubala labelled as “unbelievable” his team’s crucial 1-0 win at Oxford.
The Imps kept their season alive with a resolute defensive performance and a victory thanks to Danny Mandroiu’s 47th-minute penalty after Ruben Rodrigues was adjudged to have fouled Ben House.
The win enabled Lincoln to leapfrog Blackpool into seventh place in League One, just two points behind Oxford with two games to go.
Skubala said: “We were unbelievable – we have a special group here. We played for the shirt, you could see that.
“I can’t really pick anyone out, we were collectively fantastic and I’m just so proud of them.
“We said to them before the start ‘let’s just keep it alive and then see what the pressure might do’ and we’ve done that.
“We knew we couldn’t come here and dominate the ball, Oxford have some very good players.
“But we thought we could catch them on the counter and hurt them and the players carried out the game plan to perfection.
“It was a great penalty from Danny Mandroiu. He was as cool as ice.
“The way we ran the clock down was perfect.”
Lincoln’s win came despite losing Reeco Hackett in only the fifth minute to a bad arm injury.
They also had substitute Dylan Duffy sent off for a second yellow card in the 83rd minute, when he fouled Marcus Browne, but the 10 men held out.
Oxford manager Des Buckingham was unhappy with the penalty award.
He said: “I’ve watched it back and it’s as clear as day…. Ruben Rodrigues won the ball.
“So, yes, I’ve got complaints about the penalty because it’s a key moment and in the end that’s what has decided the outcome of the game.
“I think we played well enough, especially in the first half, to feel we should have won the game – we created a couple of big opportunities.
“If we keep presenting opportunities like the ones to Tyler Goodrham and Mark Harris I’m sure they’ll take them.
“But we’d scored 13 goals in the last three games, maybe we had used up our share.
“We’re in a strong position with two games to go. So I’m not going to stand here and keep moaning about the penalty – we’ve just got to refocus for Stevenage at home on Friday night.
“I’m disappointed the performance here hasn’t given us the result because we definitely deserved to get something from this game.”
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