Crawley boss Rob Elliot apologised to the club’s supporters as his patched-up side lost 4-1 at Lincoln to remain firmly entrenched in the Sky Bet League One relegation zone.
The 102 hardy away fans were treated to an early Kamari Doyle goal to give them hope of just a second away win in 2025.
However, the Imps fought back to lead 3-1 at half-time, thanks to James Collins, Jovon Makama and Dom Jefferies – the architect of the first two goals – with an 88th-minute Joe Gardner strike securing just their second home win of the year.
“It’s been tough for the fans and a lot of the anger is directed at me and I can accept that,” admitted Elliot. “I have got broad shoulders, but it’s not through a lack of desire or hard work.
“Yes, I will make loads of mistakes – direct the anger at me, that’s absolutely fine. I can only apologise to the fans for the result and those that travelled. We do appreciate it.”
On the game itself, he added: “The lads gave us absolutely everything, I can’t complain, but they fell short.
“It’s disappointing after the start we had, but we had a lot of tired bodies out there and we weren’t good enough.
“We’re struggling with the physicality of the league. We are down to the bare bones and we have a lot of young players who have been exposed at this level. They kept going, but they got punished.”
Crawley took the lead inside six minutes. Charlie Barker was played in down the right and he drove in a cross that was palmed out by Imps’ George Wickens straight to the unmarked Doyle, who slammed the ball into the net from six yards.
Three minutes later, parity was restored. Jefferies’ shot was saved by Jonjo Wollacott but the ball came back to the City man, who crossed for Collins to head home.
City took the lead in the 25th minute. Jefferies crossed for Makama, whose header was pushed onto a post by Wollacott, but the ball bounced back for Makama to prod it in.
Makama then turned provider, crossing for Jefferies, who finished with aplomb. And fellow replacement Gardner broke clear in the 88th minute to drive home a shot into the bottom corner.
Imps head coach Michael Skubala was in bullish mood afterwards, with the valuable win easing the pressure on him.
He said: “It was a great game, a good three points and I’m much, much happier with the performance. When we perform like that we are a match for anyone.
“The biggest thing for me today was our discipline. It’s not easy to go 1-0 down but we kept at it and looked threatening all night after that and we tore them apart at times.
“I was really pleased with the calmness we showed, especially after going behind. We controlled the intensity, we were really compact and looked lively. We got the goal and when we got the second goal there was only one team in it.
“The front four were magnificent and to a man they were all good. We had good shape and good structure and we could have scored more goals.”
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