Michael Skubala hailed the character of his Lincoln side after they came from behind to win 2-1 at Cheltenham and move into the League One play-off places with one game left.

Relegation battlers Cheltenham led through Liam Sercombe’s early penalty, but Joe Taylor levelled before half-time and Freddie Draper won it seven minutes after the break.

The Imps’ top six destiny is in their own hands, with a home match against champions Portsmouth to finish, while Cheltenham’s place in the third tier is now hanging by a thread.

“We knew it was going to be tough coming here,” Skubala said.

“We know how much they were fighting for every point so they could stay up.

“They started the game brighter than us and we didn’t begin it as ourselves.

“In the second half we came out and blew them away a little bit and could have probably scored more.

“It was a brilliant second half and everyone worked hard, digging deep to get those points.

“The 1,000-plus fans really got behind the team and pushed us on when we were 1-0 down.

“It really counted and helped us get back into the game. They drove us on.

“The character of the group is amazing and if we looked back months ago to be told we’d be in a position where we’re sixth with the champions coming to our place to face us as we look to clinch a place in the play-offs we’d have all taken it. It’s up to us now.”

A midweek win at Burton had kept Cheltenham’s survival hopes alive but the defeat leaves them five points from safety with just two games left to play.

Manager Darrell Clarke is refusing to throw in the towel while survival remains a possibility.

“I am gutted, first of all, but we still have to try and take it to the last game of the season,” Clarke said.

“We have to win on Tuesday night (Peterborough at home) and then anything can happen in the last game (at Stevenage). We have to do that.

“We have to appreciate moments in the game today where we should score.

“In the first half we had some golden opportunities so to come in at half-time only 1-1 is disappointing because we’d opened them up a few times and the gameplan was working.

“The first half was the best we’ve played at home for a long time.

“I was then disappointed with the second half as a whole because we huffed and puffed, with players tiring.”

Lincoln moved into the play-off places with a 2-1 win at Cheltenham, whose League One future is now hanging by a thread.

The Imps have been resurgent under boss Michael Skubala, but they had to come from behind to take the points.

Cheltenham led through Liam Sercombe’s early penalty, but Joe Taylor levelled before half-time and Freddie Draper won it seven minutes after the break.

A midweek win at Burton had kept Cheltenham’s survival hopes alive and their chances of avoiding the drop improved when Jordan Thomas was tripped by Danny Mandroiu in the box. Sercombe stepped up to fire home from the spot in the 15th minute for his 11th goal of the season.

Lincoln responded well and Taylor’s superb run down the left was eventually stopped in the box, but the ball found its way back to him and he applied a clinical finish in the 40th minute for his 22nd goal of the campaign.

Luke Southwood saved from Alex Mitchell early in the second half and also kept out an effort from Ben House, but he could do nothing to prevent Draper from scoring with a low finish in the 52nd minute.

James Olayinka saw a late effort blocked for Cheltenham and their defeat left them five points from safety with two games to play.

Lincoln boss Michael Skubala hailed his free-scoring side after they hammered Bristol Rovers 5-0.

The impressive Imps took their recent tally to 16 goals in three games with another fine display at Sincil Bank.

Luton loanee Joe Taylor will get the plaudits for a first professional hat-trick, sandwiched between captain Paudie O’Connor’s opener and Reeco Hackett’s late fifth.

Anthony Evans missed a penalty for the visitors, who had a man advantage for the last 15 minutes after Ethan Erhahon was sent off.

“We started well again,” said Skubala, whose side are two points off the play-off spots after a 13th game unbeaten.

“We talk about starting bright, starting fast, and we did that.

“I just said to the boys this is what we do. If you’re going to come and play us you have to be on it.

“Scoring five goals was fantastic. You saw us scoring goals, but we needed our keeper today. Big man Lukas was fantastic. Those are the things that don’t get mentioned when you score loads of goals.

“You saw his and Paudie’s quality today. As much as we talk about goals, we’re getting clean sheets as well. I thought those two were fantastic today.

“I don’t know how many Joe’s scored. I just like people scoring goals. Joe at the minute, his positioning in behind is fantastic.

“He’s improving all the time. That’s why he came here. He’s a real threat to anybody.”

Rovers boss Matt Taylor understandably cut a frustrated figure after his side were put to the sword.

He questioned his players’ desire with a number of them out of contract in the summer.

He said: “We started the game so poorly. There were some diabolical moments, defending for the goals.

“The script was set in terms of what to expect from them. It looked like some couldn’t match it and some looked like they didn’t have the mindset to match it.

“The first goal was embarrassing. Their goals are diabolical defending. They’re my responsibility.

“All I ask is they take more personal pride in their performance. That first half an hour was too poor a showing for me to accept.

“There’s a bigger picture which we all know about. Is that affecting some players on the pitch at the moment? You’re only damaging yourself if you play like that. You only damage yourself and damage your own futures.

“Clarity’s all I need going forward and that’s taught me a little bit more about some of the personality.

“It’s irrelevant about the chances we created. We’ve said so many times about being good about creating, but five goals against. It’s irrelevant.

“You can’t look like a good footballing side at times if you can’t do the basic fundamentals of defending a football game.”

Michael Skubala hailed his “ruthless” Lincoln side after they thrashed Cambridge 6-0 to extend their unbeaten Sky Bet League One run to 12 matches.

Braces apiece from Jack Moylan – his second in two games – and Joe Taylor, plus further strikes from subs TJ Eyoma and Dylan Duffy saw the Imps close to within three points of the play-off places.

“I thought we were ruthless from start to finish,” gushed Skubala. “I was very impressed and even at the end you could see how much these guys want to win.

“We’re a tough side to play against, we have a ruthless streak to us and the mentality of the group is fantastic at the moment.

“We talk about starting the game quickly, making sure we’re on the front foot and credit to the lads, they did that really well. I thought there were some brilliant performances out there to a man.

“We need to keep our feet on the ground, though. We haven’t cracked it. We have to do it game by game and go again. It’s going to be really tough game on Saturday against Bristol Rovers.

“But we’re putting a marker down and if anyone slips up, we’ll be there.”

Moylan fired City into the lead after just three minutes. Sean Roughan’s cross into the box fell to Lasse Sorensen initially, but the ball eventually found its way to the Irishman who smashed a shot high into the roof of the net.

Moylan doubled the lead after 25 minutes, confidently slotting a low shot past Jack Stevens after a delightful Ethan Erhahon pass.

It took the Imps just three minutes of the second half to go 3-0 up, with Danny Mandroiu’s sublime ball across United’s area finding an unmarked Taylor who had the easy job of steering the ball into the net.

City added a fourth after 75 minutes when Moylan’s brilliant through ball set up Taylor to dink a shot over Stevens and into the net.

Eyoma then fired home after Teddy Bishop’s shot was initially blocked before Duffy rammed a shot through Stevens’ legs to complete the rout.

It was a humbling experience for Cambridge boss Garry Monk in only his second match in charge.

“I am hugely frustrated, I did not expect that all,” admitted Monk. “I expected us to build off the back of an OK performance last Saturday.

“It was just self-inflicted – all those goals were very poor ones to concede. You can’t concede goals how we did tonight. You might see one or two of them conceded like that, but not four or five.

“We made far too many mistakes. We rather gifted them a lot of their goals and the performance has given me some food for thought.

“I need to think a bit more what we need to do away from home. Once a couple of the goals went in, we were a bit tepid after that. We were a yard or two off it.

“We played against a good side, but we made it easy for them.”

Jack Moylan and Joe Taylor both scored twice as rampant Lincoln stretched their unbeaten Sky Bet League One run to 12 matches as they thrashed Cambridge 6-0 at the LNER Stadium.

Irishman Moylan netted two brilliant goals in Saturday’s 5-1 mauling of Barnsley and scored twice in the opening half hour, before Taylor grabbed his own brace, while substitutes TJ Eyoma and Dylan Duffy also got in on the act.

Moylan fired City into the lead after just three minutes. Sean Roughan’s cross into the box fell to Lasse Sorensen initially, but the ball eventually found its way to Moylan who smashed a shot high into the roof of the net.

Jack Stevens made a flying save to deny Sorensen after he latched on to a terrific Danny Mandroiu pass, who then himself stabbed the corner wide.

Moylan doubled the lead after 25 minutes, confidently slotting a low shot past Stevens after a delightful Ethan Erhahon pass.

Stevens superbly denied Sorensen again in first-half stoppage-time, but it took the Imps just three minutes of the second half to go 3-0 up.

Mandroiu’s sublime ball across Cambridge’s area found an unmarked Taylor, who had the easy job of steering the ball into the net.

James Brophy brought a good save out of Lukas Jensen, before lobbing another effort just over, while Ryan Bennett headed narrowly wide from a corner as Cambridge enjoyed their best spell of the match.

Lincoln, though, added a fourth after 75 minutes when Moylan’s brilliant through ball set up Taylor, who dinked a shot over Stevens and into the net.

Eyoma then fired home after Teddy Bishop’s shot was initially blocked before Duffy rammed a shot through Stevens’ legs to complete the rout.

Lincoln head coach Michael Skubala praised his side’s intensity as they secured an emphatic 5-1 victory over promotion-chasing Barnsley at Oakwell.

Joe Taylor opened the scoring before Jack Moylan (2), Daniel Mandriou and Jovon Makama added second-half goals.

Adam Phillips pulled one back for the hosts, but they could not push for a comeback.

Skubala said: “We started the game really well; we started the game really bright. Our press was a little bit different to try and deal with Barnsley’s way of playing.

“I thought second half we were bang on.

“What pleased me today was, the whole team was connected. We were really good out of possession, we were aggressive when we needed to be aggressive, we didn’t give second balls up.

“Our energy and intensity was a little bit too much for them.”

On the performance of Mandriou, Skubala said: “Daniel Mandriou is a good player. We’ve had to play him a little bit lower, but again we trust him with what to do.

“Another player that’s been out the team for a bit, not getting the minutes he wants.

“He came on today and I thought he did a brilliant job.”

On the goals his side scored, Skubala said: “Good goals, I’m really pleased with all the goals. All the goals were good finishes.

“What’s really pleasing is we took our chances. We feel like sometimes we’re getting into the final third and we just need a bit more quality.

“But today I thought they showed the quality in the final third which is brilliant.”

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins admitted it was a poor performance from his team.

He said: “It probably doesn’t take rocket science to work out that the majority, if not all of our team, were way below the standards they’ve set.

“I should stress that the players have been fantastic this season, they’ve taken a lot of plaudits and rightfully so.

“But today there were just so many that fell below the levels and made individual, basic errors that were capitalised on by a very good side, who are in a very good moment.

“The scoreline was a combination of things and the biggest one just being that we had too many players being way below par.

“When you make mistakes and you get punished by goals then you take it out of your hands.

“We started poorly, went behind. But then from that point on we looked ourselves, looked like we were getting into great positions.

“But you just can’t legislate when you’re already 1-0 down to make the mistakes that we did for the second and third goal.

“There’s no question that we made it an awful lot easier for them and we don’t normally make it easy for teams.”

Lincoln extended their unbeaten run to 11 games with an emphatic 5-1 away victory over Barnsley.

Joe Taylor opened the scoring before a Jack Moylan brace, Daniel Mandriou and Jovon Makama added second-half goals.

Adam Phillips pulled one back for the hosts, but they could not push for a comeback.

Lincoln took the lead after 15 minutes when Lasse Sorensen knocked it across for Taylor to finish beyond Liam Roberts.

They doubled their lead in the 55th minute through substitute Moylan, who weaved past the Barnsley defence before slotting past Roberts.

Michael Skubala’s side added a third three minutes later when Josh Earl gave the ball away in his own half. Mandriou picked up the ball and drove into the box before finding the back of the net.

Moylan got his second of the game in the 72nd minute when he let fly from 25 yards out and found the bottom left corner.

Barnsley pulled one back with 13 minutes to play when Phillips fired home from inside the box.

The Imps responded quickly and added a fifth through Makama two minutes later.

Lasse Sorensen scored a goal of the season contender as in-form Lincoln stretched their unbeaten League One run to nine matches with a 3-0 defeat of Shrewsbury.

The Danish full-back found the top corner from the right touchline to add to earlier efforts from Teddy Bishop and Reeco Hackett as the Imps emphatically tamed the Shrews at Sincil Bank.

Chey Dunkley poked an early effort wide for Shrewsbury before City went down the other end and took the lead.

Hackett’s corner was headed back across goal by Paudie O’Connor to Joe Taylor, whose shot was blocked, with the rebound falling to Hackett whose effort was then kept out, only for Bishop to find the net.

Bishop curled a 20-yard free-kick just over and then Hackett missed a golden chance to double City’s lead nine minutes into the second half, drilling wide when put through by Ethan Erhahon.

Hackett made amends just four minutes later, though, smashing a left-footed shot into the top corner following a delightful back-heeled pass from Taylor.

Hackett and Taylor were thwarted by Shrews goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne within a few seconds and then Sorensen drove into the side-netting as City went for the jugular.

A third inevitably came after 67 minutes with an incredible effort from Sorensen.

The hosts had won a penalty after Ben House was brought down by Burgoyne.

Bishop struck a post from the spot, with the ball rebounding out to Sorensen on the right wing. The Dane instinctively let fly, with the ball arcing into the top left-hand corner of the net.

Taylor Perry finally had the Shrews’ first shot on target after 70 minutes but Lukas Jensen produced a routine save.

Lasse Sorensen scored a goal of the season contender as in-form Lincoln stretched their unbeaten League One run to nine matches with a 3-0 defeat of Shrewsbury.

The Danish full-back found the top corner from the right touchline to add to earlier efforts from Teddy Bishop and Reeco Hackett as the Imps emphatically tamed the Shrews at Sincil Bank.

Chey Dunkley poked an early effort wide for Shrewsbury, before City went down the other end and Hackett’s corner created the opener.

Joe Taylor’s shot was blocked, with the rebound falling to Hackett whose effort was then kept out, only for Bishop to fire his effort into the bottom corner.

Bishop curled a 20-yard free-kick just over and then Hackett missed a golden chance to double City’s lead nine minutes into the second half, drilling wide when put through by Ethan Erhahon.

Hackett made amends just four minutes later, though, smashing a left-footed shot into the top corner following a delightful back-heeled pass from Taylor.

Both Hackett and Taylor were thwarted by Harry Burgoyne within a few seconds and then Sorensen drove into the side-netting as City went for the jugular.

A third inevitably came after 67 minutes with an incredible effort from Sorensen. The hosts had won a penalty after House was brought down by Burgoyne. Bishop struck a post from the spot, with the ball rebounding out to Sorensen on the right wing. The Dane instinctively let fly, with the ball arcing into the top left-hand corner of the net.

Taylor Perry finally had the Shrews’ first shot on target after 70 minutes, but Lukas Jensen produced a routine save.

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.”

Joe Taylor clipped in the winner as Lincoln saw off Exeter 1-0 at the LNER Stadium.

Luton-loanee Taylor netted his first for the club, calmly finishing the ball over Viljami Sinisalo midway through the second half.

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

The first chance fell to the home side when Dylan Duffy pulled a free-kick just wide of the target. Duffy would soon slice a volley wide as the Imps took control.

The visitors scrambled the first chance of the second period as Yanic Wildschut tested Lukas Jensen at his near post.

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 Jensen.

The hosts carved a near-identical chance of their own when Ben House unmarked on the penalty spot was denied twice by Sinisalo, as the game came to life.

Substitute Ted Bishop soon slipped in Taylor to find the winner in some style.

Ramsgate striker Joe Taylor is hoping the Kent club’s own bit of ‘Crazy Gang’ spirit can help the eighth-tier side pull off an FA Cup shock against AFC Wimbledon on Monday night.

The Isthmian League South East Division pacesetters head to Plough Lane for the televised tie eyeing another upset after winning at Vanarama National League side Woking to book their place in the second round for the first time.

It is 35 years since Wimbledon beat Liverpool’s ‘Culture Club’ to lift the FA Cup trophy at Wembley, where captain Dave Beasant saved a penalty from John Barnes, the first goalkeeper to do so in a final.

With the since-reformed south-west London club now in Sky Bet League Two, it is Ramsgate who will take up the underdogs tag on Monday night, by which time the draw for the third round will have been made.

Taylor feels Ben Smith’s “tight-knit squad” can deliver another piece of FA Cup magic.

“We are quite a small squad of senior players and then we have got a group of young lads that have come through the academy,” Taylor told the PA news agency.

“They have sort of wrapped around us very nicely. It is a really good relationship.

“Obviously all of this cup stuff helps and we are up there in the league, so when you are winning, everyone is happy – but when times haven’t been so good, the group has been really good together.

“If we can get half of that ‘Crazy Gang’ spirit, then we would stand a good chance wouldn’t we?”

With nine goals so far in the competition, Taylor is in the race for this season’s Mitre Golden Ball Award, which recognises the top scorer in the FA Cup and gives players lower down the pyramid the opportunity to compete against Premier League stars.

Despite the extra attention on the Rams, Taylor is confident they can stay focussed to deliver the required performance at Plough Lane.

“In the last couple of weeks, we have had a lot of media (interest) and stuff that we are not used to, then we have had some really important league games during that time,” he said.

“The manager sort of banned any FA Cup talk – then he brought the TV cameras into the changing room and they were following us around everywhere!

“But we have managed to win all the (league) games and then drew a tough one (at Cray Valley).

“We are sitting up there in the league and we have had all of this going on as well, so the focus has been good actually.”

Taylor added: “We are no stranger to an upset now. I think the last four teams we have played have been higher league opposition.

“We sort of suit that (underdog) tag pretty nicely and we have all bought into that.

“Let’s be frank, Wimbledon are a better side than us, they are full-time, but we know our qualities and our strengths, so we are ready to give it a go.”

Wales Under-21 coach Matty Jones has hailed Luton hero Joe Taylor’s “fight and determination” to rise from the ninth tier of English football to the Premier League.

Taylor was sent out on loan by King’s Lynn to Eastern Counties League Premier Division club Wroxham at the start of the 2021-22 season.

It proved plain sailing as Taylor scored 21 goals in 13 games for the ninth-tier Yachtsmen, sparking Peterborough’s interest and a move to the English Football League in November 2021.

Taylor made just a dozen league appearances for Posh before signing for Luton in January and his season ended in the most dramatic fashion.

The 20-year-old forward, on as a substitute, converted a penalty in the Hatters’ Wembley shoot-out victory over Coventry that secured Premier League football next season.

“To see Joe come on at Wembley was special,” said Jones, who has included Taylor in the squad for Wales’ opening 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier in Denmark on Tuesday.

“I spoke to him before the game and he didn’t expect to be on the bench. Just to be part of it and experience the day was his main goal.

“One thing he’s got is fight and determination, not to prove people wrong but to prove to himself that he’s good enough.

“It could have gone either way for him at Peterborough, in terms of not getting a huge amount of game time and dropping into the 21s.

“He showed frustration at times for that, but then his move to Luton came out of the blue.”

Taylor made only one start and four substitute appearances before making the Hatters’ bench at Wembley.

Just moments before his sweetly-struck penalty in the shoot-out, Taylor thought he had scored an extra-time winner only for his effort to be ruled out by VAR for a handball in the build-up.

“To come off the bench and score the winner would have been a dream come true,” Jones said.

“But we couldn’t be happier to see Joe score a penalty which was pivotal to Luton’s success.

“Those experiences for lads are gold dust. The pressure he was under with that penalty will only bode well for us.

“He will get similar scenarios for his country, how to manage his emotions under extreme pressure.”

King’s Lynn-born Taylor, who qualifies for the Dragons through his Welsh grandmother, made his U21 debut in September.

Jones said: “Joe’s had a great journey – it’s such a positive story – and he’s come into camp now with both performance and physical momentum.”