Honourable Mentions
These games didn’t even make the top ten, so you know how low the bar is going to be!
Imps 0-1 Hartlepool 21/22
Appleton’s second full season, an underwhelming FA Cup run that saw us just beat Bowers and Pitsea. The Third Round beckoned; all we had to do was put struggling League Two side Hartlepool United out of the competition.
Lewis Fiorini’s second-half own goal proved to be enough to send us out.
Imps 2-3 Southend United 55/56
City were a Second Division team, and they didn’t enter the competition until the Third Round. Southend, of the Third Division, were supposed to turn up and go home empty-handed.
Instead, in front of almost 12,000 fans, they beat us 3-2. To make matters worse, they drew Manchester City at home in the next round.
Port Vale 2-0 Imps 81/82
The Imps were flying high in Division Three, hunting promotion to the next level. Port Vale were a level below, and we shared a 2-2 draw at the Bank in the first game. A replay at Vale Park ended 0-0 after 120 minutes, so we needed a second replay. Again at Vale Park, this time we were beaten 2-0.
At the end of the season, Vale stayed in Division Four. We missed out on Division Two by a whisker.
Imps 1-2 Morecambe 23/24
We seemed to be cruising against League Two outfit Morecambe in 2023/34. Lasse Sorensen bagged early as interim manager Tom Shaw looked on.
Sadly, it wasn’t to be. The Imps had Hakeeb Adelakun as the striker, leaving us shot shy, and Michael Mellon levelled, before Tom Bloxham scored after half time to give them a 2-1 win.