November 26, 2011 7.42 pm This story is over 147 months old

Platt, Russell lead ‘conclusive’ Imps victory

Lincoln City 3 – Ebbsfleet United 0: The Imps continued their good form at home with an emphatic victory that puts them 18th in the Blue Square league.

Lincoln City manager David Holdsworth said he was “very pleased” with the result

Lincoln City continued their good form at home with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Ebbsfleet United, moving to 18th in the Blue Square Bet Premier league.

The Imps were looking to pick themselves up from a 2-0 defeat away to Wrexham last weekend.

Playing in front of more than 2,000 supporters at Sincil Bank, goals from Conal Platt and Simon Russell on either side of the break put City clearly on top of their 15th-placed opponents.

Ebbsfleet’s misery was compounded when defender Yado Mambo was sent off for bringing down Alan Power. John Nutter slotted the free kick home to cement City’s second successive home win 10 minutes from the end.

Manager David Holdsworth said after the win: “I think it was a conclusive victory today. It was fantastic two-touch football, which we’ve been working on in training. It was nice for them to take it to the dance floor.

“Three very good goals, and perhaps my only bit of criticism would be that we didn’t hit the target enough! It sounds a bit selfish but I demand high standards, and they all know that. But all in all, I’m very pleased.”

City’s newest recruits Tyrone Thompson and Jake Sheridan made their club debuts, while long-term injury absentees Russell and Josh Gowling made their comebacks to the starting lineup.

But it was Platt who caused the early scare for Ebbsfleet and City could well have taken the lead inside the first minute, only for goalkeeper Preston Edwards to save with his legs.

Platt, however, gave City’s initiative just reward on 38 minutes through a left-footed 20-yard curler that Edwards could do nothing about.

The visitors had a golden chance to level up four minutes from the interval via Nathaniel Pinney who, despite shouts of offside, had the goal at his mercy but fired straight at keeper Paul Farman’s legs.

City maintained their aggression after the restart. First Platt drove just wide of the post from 18 yards before Kyle Perry’s long-range shot was parried by Edwards.

Ebbsfleet had two close chances just after the hour mark as Liam Enver-Marum’s 25-yard effort went narrowly wide and a Michael West corner saw Paul Lorraine head straight at Farman.

But the hosts were looking increasingly dangerous on the counter, and it proved decisive after 74 minutes. A long ball from Tony Sinclair at right back found Russell who deftly killed the ball and fired powerfully into the top corner.

Just six minutes later and with Power through on goal, Mambo’s moment of madness earned him a straight red. Nutter stepped up to take the resultant free kick, which struck an Ebbsfleet head on its way to goal.

Holdsworth admitted the players would be give time to savour the win, but warned of tougher times ahead, saying: “There’s a lot more work to be done here but today is a good day for the fans.

“I said when I came here I would like to turn things around and see them enjoying their football. There have been a lot of tough times here before but we are going to take this step by step and today was a step in the right direction.”