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.”

Lincoln kept alive their League One play-off hopes with a crucial 1-0 victory over sixth-placed Oxford at the Kassam Stadium.

Danny Mandroiu hit the winner from the penalty two minutes into the second half after Ruben Rodrigues fouled Ben House.

They held out despite having substitute Dylan Duffy sent off for a second yellow card seven minutes from the end.

It was a must-win game for the Imps after their home defeat by Wigan at the weekend and they started the better.

Paudie O’Connor forced goalkeeper Jamie Cumming into a save with a far-post header at a corner and Freddie Draper headed wide from close in.

The visitors suffered a blow when Reeco Hackett had to go off with an arm injury after what looked an innocuous challenge.

As the half wore on Oxford settled and keeper Lukas Jensen twice saved from Tyler Goodrham and Mark Harris also went close twice as the U’s turned up the heat.

But City also looked dangerous and Draper squandered another good opportunity from eight yards.

The U’s were caught cold at the start of the second half when they conceded the spot-kick, hammered home by Mandroiu to Cumming’s left.

Cameron Brannagan added an extra dimension for United when he came off the bench and he cut in from the left to hammer a fierce drive that Jensen did well to save.

But Lincoln defended resolutely for a victory that keeps their season going.

Lincoln manager Michael Skubala wants his side to be more ruthless after the 1-0 sky Bet League One victory over Exeter at LNER Stadium.

Joe Taylor clipped in the winner with his first goal for the club since joining on loan from Luton. He calmly dinked the ball over Viljami Sinisalo midway through the second half.

In a game short of real clear-cut opportunities, Ben House was denied by a solid double save from the visiting goalkeeper Sinisalo.

“We needed to be a bit more clinical in front of goal in the first half,” Skubala said.

“I though tactically, Exeter caused some real troubles today. We knew they’d keep the ball well. We made some adjustments at half time to try and break through them a little bit more. The match plan the lads stuck to was fantastic and in the end our quality showed.

“We’re pleased again to get another win at home, but the players have done really well. Not only have we got competition for places at the moment, but the players also who are coming in are impacting the game as well.

“Joe Taylor loves scoring goals. He’s been snatching at chances the last couple of games. When he went through, I was just hoping and praying he’d score. I know now he’s started scoring, he’s going to get more and more at this level. That’s hopefully going to settle him down a bit.

“If we can’t win, we need to be hard to beat. If we’re hard to beat, we’ll go on and win more games. We were both today.”

Jack Aitchison hit the bar for Exeter with the Grecians only clear-cut opportunity.

Dion Rankine burst down the wing and picked out Aitchison inside the Lincoln area. The Scot’s side-footed effort was tipped onto the bar by the ever-alert Lukas Jensen.

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell was disappointed with his side’s performance.

“We got what we deserved today, and we need to be better than that.” Caldwell said.

“The result is what it is, we never got going at any point. We still created the best chance of the game at 0-0. We need to recognise when we come to stadiums like this we need to pass forward quicker. We have to be willing to fight more. Lincoln outbattled us today so we must take that on the chin.

“A good run can very quickly become a bad run, so we have to recognise standards in training have to go up. Too often we didn’t defend simple balls. We have to defend the ball better than we did. We risked the game in areas we shouldn’t have.

“There are so many mistakes we have to address.”

Lincoln boss Michael Skubala was “really impressed” with his side as they beat 10-man Fleetwood 2-1.

It was a first home win for the club since mid-October as they secured back-to-back victory by coming from behind at Sincil Bank.

Promise Omochere opened the scoring, but Bosun Lawal’s sending-off after a melee in first-half stoppage time turned the game on its head.

Returning Ben House and Lasse Sorensen struck inside five second-half minutes to secure a welcome win.

“It’s nice,” said Skubala. “When you play at home against Fleetwood, you know there’s an expectation to get a result.

“I was really impressed with how we dominated the game in the second half. In the end the quality showed.

“Lukas made a mistake and first thing he did was apologise for the lads. He’s had a great season for us, so we allow him to make a mistake.

“It’s not easy against 10 men. We saw that against Burton, it can be tough mentally.

“There were some huge performances out there today. We controlled the second half really well.

“You have to be calm against 10 men. Wait for the moments and that’s what’s happened.”

And when asked his opinion on the dismissal, Skubala said: “I didn’t really see what happened with the sending-off.

“I think there was some confusion in terms of who to book.

“I didn’t hear what Lawal said, there’s a long way between us and the fourth official.

“All I know was there was a lot of hugging really. It looked like the ball was going into the box so I was looking at that.”

Fleetwood were bidding to win three straight league games for the first time since March 2021.

Boss Charlie Adam said: “We are on the wrong side of a mistaken identity and it’s cost us at the end of the day.

“We had real control of the game and once we scored the goal we had a real tempo.

“It’s a big disappointment for us with the circumstances surrounding the result. But I’ve told the lads in the dressing room that they have to roll their sleeves up and move on to Tuesday now.

“It’s always tough to take when something like that happens, but you can’t change it.

“We played really well in stages. We controlled the game and then it turned on a decision.

“I’m really pleased with the performance from the boys. We roll our sleeves up and go again.

“That’s all you can do.”

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.