Play-off chasing Lincoln saw their 16-game unbeaten run ended by Charlie Hughes’ last-gasp winner as Wigan claimed a 2-1 victory at the LNER Stadium.

The Imps looked well-placed to extend their impressive run even further having battled back from a goal behind.

Jonny Smith fired Latics into a welcome 20th-minute lead with his first goal since New Year’s Day. The midfielder’s sweet strike took a slight deflection as it flew into the bottom corner.

But Daniel Mandroiu levelled for the Imps five minutes before the break with a fine finish.

It was the Irish midfielder’s first goal for nearly two months but it could not have come at a better time as the hosts found a way back into the contest.

Smith had an early effort saved, while at the other end Hughes rifled a right-foot shot just wide.

Thelo Aasgaard turned provider for Smith to open the scoring, before Mandroiu had a powerful shot saved.

Ben House went close before Mandriou levelled and leading scorer Joe Taylor had a header saved on the stroke of half-time.

Jason Kerr headed wide for Latics and Tom Pearce blasted over, but Hughes’ stunning last-gasp volley saw the visitors take the points.

Boss Shaun Maloney admitted Jason Kerr’s late header against 10-man Leyton Orient secured a ‘really important win’ for Wigan.

The Scottish centre-back had only been on the pitch for a matter of seconds when he headed home a cross from Jonny Smith – who had also come on in the same substitution – to break the deadlock at the DW Stadium.

The O’s had played the majority of the game with 10 men after Ethan Galbraith was shown a second yellow card on 42 minutes after two fouls in the space of 13 minutes on his Northern Ireland international colleague Jordan Jones.

After that it was pretty much attack against defence, with Kerr giving Wigan a victory they undoubtedly deserved.

“It was a really important win,” acknowledged Maloney. “The game obviously completely changed on the red card.

“Leyton Orient were good at times in the first half, we were okay. At times we were really creative, at other times we weren’t at our fluent best.

“The only positive from that was when Leyton Orient had possession I never felt like they were creating big opportunities to score.

“The second half was all about trying to stay patient, understand how we were going to break them down.

“They went straight to a five and a four and it isn’t easy trying to break down 10 men.

“It was hard for the players and every substitution we made was to become even more attacking.

“But I thought the players were really good because it certainly wasn’t easy for them.

“As you can see the winner came from a short corner and sometimes you need set-plays like that to get over the line.”

Orient manager Richie Wellens was pleased with what he saw, having had ‘no complaints’ about the match-changing decision.

“I can’t really remember the first (yellow) but I’ve got no complaints about the second one, his foot was high and it was a fair booking,” he said.

“Until the sending off we dominated the game.

“It was too easy for us, the only threat they had was when we lost the ball in the middle of the pitch and they countered on us.

“I’m very proud of the team – to come to this stadium against a club that win the league whenever they are in League One.

“Wigan should be right at the top end of this division so to come here with really young players and play the way we did was excellent.

“It was comfortable for us at the back, I didn’t think they caused us any problems until they made a good substitution, taking (Charlie) Goode off and bringing on someone who was better on the ball at the back, which caused us problems.

“But we’ve been done by a set-play and we’ve got to be better with that.

“After that, they managed the game well, the referee allowed them to slow the game down, waste time, which you expect the opposition to do in that position.”

Substitute Jason Kerr scored with his first touch to give Wigan a narrow but well-deserved 1-0 victory over 10-man Leyton Orient at the DW Stadium.

Wigan had an early let-off when a weak header from Luke Chambers presented the ball to Darren Pratley, who fired wide from the edge of the box.

But only a desperate header off the line prevented Wigan going ahead after a deep corner from Chambers was headed back in by Charlie Hughes.

Wigan should have hit the front when Callum McManaman fed Josh Magennis, who shot wide from eight yards.

But the game completely changed three minutes before half-time when Orient’s Ethan Galbraith picked up his second yellow card in the space of 13 minutes – both for fouls on his Northern Ireland international colleague Jordan Jones.

From then on it was attack versus defence, with McManaman shooting just wide of the target at the beginning of the second period before substitute Charlie Kelman somehow headed wide from eight yards against his old club.

But Wigan finally got their breakthrough 17 minutes from time when Jonny Smith crossed for Kerr to head home – both of their first touches after coming off the bench.

Head coach Jason Kerr marvelled at Somerset’s resilience as they ended a string of near misses in the Vitality Blast to claim the title for a second time.

Since their maiden triumph 18 years ago, Somerset had endured seven fruitless trips to Finals Day – including 2021 and 2022 – but at the eighth attempt on Saturday night, they finally landed silverware.

Kerr, who has been at Somerset since 2005 and took up his current post nearly six years ago, insisted he was always convinced they would end the drought if they kept giving themselves an opportunity.

They have been the best side in the competition this year, losing just twice in 17 matches and successfully defending sub-150 scores at Edgbaston to defeat Surrey then Essex to get over the line.

“We’ve been building as a side,” Kerr said. “We’ve been to Finals Day for the last three years, and last year we didn’t turn up at all.

“We didn’t do ourselves justice, so I was adamant that we were going to do that this year.

“After last year’s final, (opening batter) Tom Banton spoke brilliantly in the dressing room and said that if we keep putting ourselves in this position, then we’ll get over the line.

“We pride ourselves on keeping putting ourselves in this position, so eventually you have to get over the line. When you win 15 out of 17 games, you deserve to lift the trophy at the end of the campaign.”

Somerset have now landed both domestic limited-overs competitions under Kerr – having won the One-Day Cup in 2019 – but their ‘nearly men’ tag is still there in the LV= Insurance County Championship.

They have been runners-up on six occasions this century – and were second in the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020 – while they are now fifth in Division One, 41 points behind leaders Surrey with six games left.

But Kerr will keep pushing to deliver for their fanbase and is confident they can continue on an upward trajectory with the players they have.

“To get over the line is just reward for a lot of people,” Kerr added. “We are incredibly passionate as a club – we’re followed immensely.

“They’re incredibly passionate and want us to win every single game that we play, which isn’t realistic, but they’re the expectations that we’ve set ourselves.

“We’ve ticked off two of the three now, so just one to go. If we can keep this team together, we’ll only get better.”