Bolton boss Ian Evatt hailed his side’s persistence after a last-gasp 1-0 win at 10-man Lincoln.

The resolute Imps looked to have held on for a hard-fought point after Danny Mandriou was sent off in the second half.

But Eoin Toal sent Evatt and the traveling Wanderers fans into scenes of jubilation with his dramatic 89th-minute winner.

“I thought we played so good,” said Evatt. “I thought we dominated from start to finish.

“We had moments we didn’t take, but we kept the belief and kept the faith.

“It shows you the value of set plays. It was easy to throw the ball in at that stage, but against 10 men it’s harder so we utilised the space around the edge and it worked.

“I wish I could bottle up that feeling because what a feeling that was in front of the away end.

“I was really pleased with the performance because I was delighted with the way we played.

“When you have the ball for so long and it’s wave after wave, it was just relentless and eventually we got what we deserved.”

The Trotters cut the gap with the top two after Portsmouth were stunned at Bristol Rovers and Peterborough were held to a late draw.

But Evatt, whose side are two points off Posh with a game in hand, stressed: “It’s getting tight at the top.

“Everyone spoke about the strength of the league, when you look at the pace the top five, six are setting and the points they’re stacking up, it’s large quantities of points.

“For us, we’re not even halfway through the season. There’s so much football to play.

“There’s no talk of this or that. We just focus on the next game. It’s really boring to say but that’s the way it has to be.”

Lincoln slipped to a second successive defeat and are four games without a win.

On Mandriou’s second sending off of the season, boss Michael Skubala said: “It’s a really tough one to take. We had 20 minutes with 10 men, the lads were digging deep and 89th minute, it’s hard to take.

“I thought we deserved something out of the game.

“The red card is a game-changing moment, there’s no doubt about that. I can’t stand here and say it’s not a game-changing moment.

“I don’t really want to talk about Danny if I’m honest, I want to talk about the warriors who for 20 minutes looked like they were going to get something out of the game.

“I thought they were brilliant to a man and we were so unlucky not to come away with something. Getting something out of that game would have been a proud performance from those 10 men.

“He will apologise. He knows. I don’t think it’s about Danny, these situations are about the other guys.

“I was really proud of the crowd, they were amazing. When we were under the cosh you could hear them and we will need that in the next few weeks and months as we’re depleted.”

Both Shaun Maloney and Michael Skubala agreed the goalless Sky Bet League One draw between Wigan and Lincoln was a fair result.

It was the visitors who registered the only shot on target, through Ethan Hamilton in the first half, as defences reigned in miserable conditions at the DW Stadium.

“It was a pretty even game really,” said Wigan boss Maloney.

“I thought they were very good defensively, Lincoln, as they have been in the last few games under the new manager.

“We found it very hard to break them down and probably didn’t do quite enough to win the game.

“We were just slightly off it and, against a team that is very well organised, we didn’t create enough with the amount of possession we had.”

Lincoln chief Skubala added: “We knew we were coming to play against a side that are very good at home and, to a man, we were really on it.

“They were trying to drag us all over the place but we’d worked on that in training and what I’d call ‘shifting’ as a back five, while also being as aggressive as we could.

“We pressed them from minute one, and for a good 70 minutes we stopped them from playing.

“If you look at the conditions, it’s always difficult to play in the wind and the rain.

“They had a couple of moments, we had a couple of half-chances, we probably edged the first half and they probably edged the second half.

“They have good players, you have to respect that, and they have good players on the bench to bring on.

“But so do we, and I was really pleased with the boys we brought on and the impact we had on the game.

“We see it as a big point and that’s what I’ve told the lads, don’t be disappointed with that.”

Wigan came desperately close to a winning goal with five minutes to go when Jordan Jones’ cross was fumbled by Lukas Jensen, with substitute Chris Sze firing home the rebound.

However, the official ruled Jensen had been fouled by fellow home substitute Charlie Wyke as he attempted to regather the ball, and Wigan’s celebrations were short-lived.

“I’ve watched it a couple of times back and, from the angle I had, I think it was probably the wrong decision,” said Maloney. “Just in terms of the goalkeeper dropping the ball before the contact with Charlie.

“But I won’t complain too much because, as I said, I don’t think we did quite enough to win the game.

“I try not to complain too much about decisions that don’t go our way, it is what it is. Sometimes they go for you, and sometimes they go the other way.

“But I can’t really say anything negative about the players, because what I really liked about the second half was the way they stayed patient.”

Skubala said: “I’ve not had time to watch it back, but it looked a bit of a scrappy one. It is what it is.”

Lincoln boss Mark Kennedy was cautious about looking at the Sky Bet League One table after his side cruised to a 3-0 victory over 10-man Blackpool.

The win moved the Imps up to fourth and extended their unbeaten run to four.

“Where we are in the league at the moment is not important,” Kennedy said. “We spoke to the group after the game and told them to not get carried away and stay grounded.

“We don’t want to be fooling ourselves. We’re not a top-four team.”

The Imps scored twice from the penalty spot and saw another strike deflected home, and Kennedy said: “With the goals, we had three big chances and took them.

“Blackpool are a really good side with a good coaching group, so that is a big win for us in a big test.

“I thought we were really good in and out of possession. We looked structured and hard to break down. We controlled the ball. I thought we did that very well today.

“Before we went to Shrewsbury, a couple of our players were practicing penalties. I told Danny Mandroui that he was on penalties today, but we have three or four players who are really capable.

“I’m a big believer of driving at defenders, so it was nice to see Ethan Erhahon drive forward and pulling the trigger. I’d like to see him do that more often.”

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley was honest about his side’s performance.

“Horrible is the word that sums it up,” he said. “The initial start was good, we had two good chances before the first goal after seven minutes. That was a mistake from us.

“It was stupid of us to give away the penalty. We responded well, I thought. We still had chances to equalise before the second.

“Lincoln got a little bit of luck with the second goal. We didn’t get the press right and he shoots from outside the area. It takes a deflection and at half-time I’m scratching my head as to why we were 2-0 down.

“We changed our formation and players at half-time and we were threatening to get back into the game.”

Blackpool were down to 10 men with 17 minutes to play after Oliver Norburn brought down Ben House prior to Lincoln’s third, and Critchley believed it was the right decision.

“We didn’t defend well enough on the halfway line,” Critchley continued.

“The third goal and the sending-off kills the game. It looked horrible, it feels horrible, but it’s our first defeat of the season so I have to put it into perspective.”

Two penalties and a deflected strike earned Lincoln a commanding 3-0 win over 10-man Blackpool at the LNER Stadium and moved them up to second in Sky Bet League One.

Daniel Mandroui opened the scoring from the spot inside seven minutes after Ben House was brought down in the Blackpool area.

Goalkeeper Lukas Jensen saved from Seasiders debutant Jordan Rhodes when he was through one-on-one and as the rebound fell to CJ Hamilton, the winger could only volley over with the goal gaping.

Five minutes before the break, Ethan Erhahon doubled his side’s advantage. He travelled to the edge of the visitors box and saw his shot flick off Marvin Ekpiteta’s legs before nestling into the far corner.

Oliver Norburn was given his marching orders with 17 minutes to play after fouling House in front of an open goal.

Substitute Teddy Bishop slammed home the resulting penalty to seal the points and extend the Imps’ unbeaten run to four, with Blackpool winless in the league since opening day.

Lincoln boss Mark Kennedy claimed Shrewsbury were the better team after Ethan Hamilton earned the Imps a 1-0 victory.

The recent signing from Accrington struck his first goal for the club to stretch their unbeaten league run to three games.

Shrewsbury were the more dominant of the two sides and went close to breaking the deadlock on the half-hour mark.

Dan Udoh played a creative ball over the top to Taylor Perry, who cut inside and darted into the box but Lukas Jensen blocked his close-range effort.

The travelling side grabbed a late win after new-boy Hamilton tucked away from inside the area in the 79th minute to get his first goal in a Lincoln shirt.

Kennedy said: “It wasn’t a brilliant performance by us. For those that were not here it was really tough conditions, like incredibly windy and blustery, and it was really tough for both teams.

“Where I was really pleased was our grit, determination, togetherness and unity, especially of the back of Tuesday, which was so nearly a really good performance.

“But unfortunately, because they scored two late goals, you then get loads of questions which I get but to respond like that with a clean sheet which is three in five games.

“Strikers win games – they say – and defenders win titles which we are some way away from that – to make clear – but my point is that clean sheets are so important.

“I thought they were the better side but if you look at the chances, they have had two shots on target, and we only had three, but Lukas (Jensen) had a quiet afternoon as you get.

“The one chance that they did have was huge. I wouldn’t say it was a game changer because it was so early.”

Shrewsbury boss Matt Taylor said: “It’s a disappointing result but our first-half performance was good.

“We weren’t ruthless enough and when you are on top in this league, and in any league really, you have got to score.

“We missed too many good chances where we made the wrong decision too often in their box.

“And when you do that, and you don’t score when the momentum is with you, then you always risk this type of result.

“Speaking to the players at half-time, I wanted them to win the half out of possession and we didn’t do that.

“When you also play against teams of Lincoln’s quality, and you look at the 1-0 wins they got away from home last season, we always knew that whoever scored that first goal would win.

“To go in at half-time 0-0 with the chances we created and how comfortable we were in possession, I was really disappointed but ultimately we have not taken our chances.”

Northampton boss Jon Brady hailed his side’s “outstanding” performance and said a point was the very least they deserved after Tuesday’s dramatic 2-2 draw against Lincoln at Sixfields.

Reeco Hackett-Fairchild’s sweet first-half finish was added to by a Paudie O’Connor header as Lincoln moved into a 2-0 lead, but both goals came very much against the run of play.

Northampton dominated the majority of the game but had to wait until the final few minutes to get their rewards as Louis Appere levelled on 86 minutes before Sam Hoskins salvaged a deserved point deep into stoppage time.

“It’s a bit bittersweet because I felt we deserved to win the game,” said Brady. “But if you don’t defend your box right you’ll concede goals, and unfortunately we didn’t.

“The second goal was potentially offside, I’ll have to watch to back, but to play the way we played and to have the patience and dominate all the stats, it’s very pleasing.

“We had 19 shots to their six and we kept being patient even when a few fans were moaning and wanted us to go long. The boys stuck to our beliefs and kept playing the way we want to play. It was really good.

“We got into a lot of crossing positions, we hit the post, we have shots cleared off the line, and how the challenge on Kieron Bowie isn’t a penalty, I don’t know. He rolls the defender, he has the goal open to drive at and the defender lands on top of him.

“For some reason it’s not given, but that doesn’t take away from a spirited performance. I thought we were outstanding.”

Lincoln manager Mark Kennedy said: “I’m gutted, absolutely gutted. But you have to take the emotion away from the game and look at the bigger picture.

“You’re 15 seconds from being euphoric, seeing plenty of high-fives and back-slapping and what would have been an amazing start to the season, but when I get away from that I think it’s a good point on the road.

“Without sounding silly, it’s a good point after a good win at the weekend. We’ve had a tough start to the season with a lot of away games but to be honest I was really impressed with them tonight, really impressed.

“I’ve seen their previous games and they’ve actually played very well but haven’t come out on the right side of the results so good luck to them. Jon will say he deserved a point and I probably can’t argue with him.

“I thought we were very good with how we dealt with their pressure and I thought we looked dangerous on the counter-attack and we were very clinical.”

Sam Hoskins scored a 98th-minute equaliser as Northampton picked up their first point of the season with a dramatic 2-2 draw against Lincoln.

The visitors led 2-0 at Sixfields with only four minutes to play but Louis Appere’s smart finish and Hoskins’ dramatic strike salvaged a deserved point for the Cobblers.

Northampton made all of the early running and went close through Tyreece Simpson and Mitch Pinnock, but Lincoln struck first when Ethan Erhahon found Reeco Hackett-Fairchild and he brilliantly fired into the top corner from 20 yards.

Hoskins glanced a header onto the roof of the net in first-half stoppage-time and somehow the Cobblers were not level early in the second half when Lukas Jensen saved from Pinnock before two follow-up efforts were scrambled off the line.

Sam Sherring headed against the post from a corner and Northampton were hit by the sucker punch 12 minutes from time when Paudie O’Connor headed in Lasse Sorensen’s cross.

But the home side responded superbly as Appere finished well with just four minutes to play, and then Hoskins volleyed home with virtually the last kick of the game to rescue a fully deserved point.

Lincoln boss Mark Kennedy has challenged his side to attack their home games after a 3-0 victory over Wycombe.

Second-half goals from Reeco Hackett-Fairchild, Teddy Bishop and Daniel Mandroiu did the damage as the impressive Imps claimed maximum points against the Chairboys at the LNER Stadium.

Forward Hackett-Fairchild rifled the hosts ahead with a sweet 68th-minute strike, before substitute midfielder Bishop doubled the lead just five minutes later with a clinical first-time finish.

Irishman Daniel Mandroiu finished the job with a fine effort five minutes from time.

“I was really pleased,” beamed Kennedy.

“I said to the guys just before they went out that all we needed was a few W’s to our name.

“It was nice to get a win and really nice to get a performance. It’s nice when you see it on the training ground, but it’s even better when it comes off.

“But we’re two games into a long, long season, so we’ve spoke about staying grounded, being humble and next on to another incredibly tough game on Tuesday.

“We drew our first three games last year and started really positively, but I’d have taken a defeat and a win today because, without sounding like an idiot, we’ve actually got more points after two games than we did after three last season.

“We’ve spoken to the players about going for games and trying to win games, I want to win games of football.

“That might not be away from home, but certainly at home.”

The visitors created decent chances of their own but lacked a killer finish in front of goal.

Frustrated Wycombe manager Matt Bloomfield said: “I’m very disappointed with the way we played in the second half.

“I thought we were good value in the first half and we had a good goal threat about us.

“But we had a goal disallowed from a free-kick and I thought we were in the ascendancy.

“However, I did not see that second half coming. I was really disappointed with the way the goals went in, it was really basic goals which we need to defend better and should defend better.

“I’m bitterly, bitterly disappointed, but goals change games.

“I felt we were still the side threatening even though that first goal didn’t count, but if that goes in then you really back yourselves [to win].

“We felt we were on the front foot, but there’s no excuses for the way we gave away three goals in the second half.

“The second half defending has to better, we have to defend our box better.”

Second-half goals from Reeco Hackett-Fairchild, Teddy Bishop and Daniel Mandroiu secured Lincoln a 3-0 victory over Wycombe at the LNER Stadium.

Forward Hackett-Fairchild rifled the hosts ahead with a sweet 68th-minute strike, before substitute midfielder Bishop doubled the lead just five minutes later with a clinical first-time finish.

Irishman Mandroiu finished the job with a fine strike five minutes from time.

Imps shot-stopper Lukas Jensen thwarted defender Jack Grimmer with a smart save early one, before midfielder Luke Leahy rifled a left-foot shot just wide for the visitors.

Danish midfielder Lasse Sorensen wasted a glorious chance to put the Imps ahead just before the half-hour mark, volleying over from close-range from Jaden Brown’s pass.

Lincoln forward Ben House was left frustrated after he was sent tumbling after a strong challenge in the box, but referee Adam Herczeg waved away shouts for a penalty.

Mandroiu tested Chairboys keeper Max Stryjek with a long-range strike, but the keeper was equal to the effort.

But Hackett-Fairchild broke the deadlock and Bishop put the Imps in control, before Mandroiu capped off a fine second-half showing with his first goal of the season.

Notts County manager Luke Williams has challenged his players to produce a response following the disappointment of crashing out of the Carabao Cup at home to Lincoln.

The Magpies were dumped out of with goals in either half from Sean Roughan and Lasse Sorensen and finished with 10 men following a red card for Aden Baldwin.

County’s return to league football had ended in a 5-1 thrashing at Sutton on Saturday, and Williams feels his side again let themselves down.

“It’s disappointing in reality because of the weekend,” Williams said.

“We are not expected to win against a team in the league above us, but with the backdrop of the weekend now feels terrible.

“We conceded again from a corner, pathetic again from a corner, and now it feels awful.”

County were reduced to 10-men in the 56th minute when Baldwin was sent off for a second caution – something which left Williams aggrieved once again.

“When you are on a yellow card, you have an awareness that you can’t do something silly – and I don’t think it’s like he is jumping on a grenade for a team,” Williams said.

“The ball is going to go through to the goalkeeper, but everyone can make a mistake and unfortunately you don’t have the luxury to make a mistake in the same way.”

Imps manager Mark Kennedy was impressed by his side’s performance and felt the League One side could have won by a more handsome margin.

“I thought we were excellent tonight. I am really pleased,” Kennedy said.

“Tactically we were excellent and did well with the counter press. They had 70% possession and we had 20 shots on goal.

“Football is about winning matches and I think we could have won by four or five tonight.”

Lincoln progressed to the second round of the Carabao Cup with a comfortable 2-0 win at Notts County, who finished with 10 men.

The Imps took the lead in the 23rd minute when Danny Mandroiu’s corner was flicked on by Paudie O’Connor, and defender Sean Roughan was on hand to steer the ball in from close range.

Mark Kennedy’s side continued to dominate proceedings and almost doubled their lead shortly after following miscommunication in the County defence, which allowed Mandroiu to shoot from distance, but his effort sailed over.

Hopes of a comeback from the Magpies in the second half lasted only three minutes. Mandroiu intercepted Richard Brindley’s pass, and after his initial effort was blocked, the ball fell kindly into the path of Lasse Sorensen who slotted home in front of the travelling fans.

Mandroiu continued to dictate the play and almost got himself on the scoresheet, smashing the post with a fierce effort.

In the 56th minute, it went from bad to worse for Luke Williams’ side, who had been beaten 5-1 in their Sky Bet League Two opener at Sutton on Saturday.

Defender Aden Baldwin received a second yellow card for pulling back Tyler Walker just inside his own half as Lincoln went on to close out the match against 10 men.

Football clubs are too important to the communities they serve not to be respected and protected by their owners, Lincoln chief executive Liam Scully has said.

The Imps have come fifth in the latest Fair Game Index measuring how sustainably the 92 clubs in the top four divisions last season were run, and got the highest score of all clubs for their equality standards.

City are members of Fair Game, which had been calling for an independent regulator for English football long before the Government white paper on football governance set out details of its remit earlier this year.

Scully said it was not his or Lincoln’s place to tell other clubs how they should run themselves, but insisted it was vital an “overall framework” for good governance was in place to make sure clubs were not lost.

“Owners of football clubs are only ever temporary custodians of these great anchor institutions within their cities and their towns,” he told the PA news agency.

“For us, it’s respecting the history and heritage of Lincoln City, running it in a way that we believe is appropriate.

“We’re still trying to be ambitious on the field, but it’s about making sure that at no point we’re putting the overall long-term financial health of the club at risk.”

Scully said clubs were “the glue” that held communities together, particularly in difficult times.

“In lockdown our ticket office staff spent the majority of their time almost being matchmakers,” he said.

“We had people phoning up saying: ‘I’ve sat next to Dave for 15 years. I don’t actually know his surname. I just know him as Dave, and he’s known me since I was a kid. I just want to know he’s all right. Would you mind just passing my number on to him and we can have a chat?’

“You then play that forward and you realise Dave is a widow, he’s in lockdown, he’s been really lonely.

“That phone call from that person he sat next to was actually the highlight of his week and then that got him involved, and then they came down to the stadium because we opened our doors in lockdown, we did a picnic every Friday where people could come in at a safe distance from each other but still be engaged.

“That’s why these clubs are assets that have to be protected. That’s why we’re anchor institutions because, you know, when Bury (had their EFL membership withdrawn) or if Derby had been lost, it’s not really the green rectangle that people would miss.

“It’s a vehicle for however many people that sit together to be together, and have that commonality.”

Scully said a new community and skills hub was being built at the LNER Stadium and that its foundation offered services from cancer care to delivering English lessons and offers around citizenship and education to the diverse community in the area immediately around the ground.

Asked why independent regulation was so vital, Scully said: “(Clubs) manage conflicts reasonably well – we compete at least twice a year and we’d almost do anything for a win, but the rest of the time we’re reasonably collaborative.

“When it comes down to those big decisions or those big moments, those fundamental principles, I think the levels of conflict are incredibly difficult to overcome.

“If you’re a director at Redtown FC and you’re also a member of the EFL or the Premier League board, you have your duties and responsibilities as a director of that company, Redtown FC, as well as the wider game, and I think that’s incredibly difficult to get the balance right.

“Self-interest is a really simple way to put it, and it’s a bit of a combative term, because you’ve got a fiduciary responsibilities as a director to both entities and I think that’s where conflicts become very difficult to manage.

“It’s a sensitive and delicate matter, it’s how we unpick that and how do we find fair and fundamental change in our game overall. I think we just need some outside assistance with that.”