Understandably Keith Hill named an unchanged team with Russell in net, a back four of Ramsden, Kennedy, Stanton and McArdle, a midfield four of Thompson, Rundle, Doolan and Jones with Le Fondre and Murray up front. On the bench were Spencer, Holness, Perkins, Higginbotham and McEvilly. Keith Hill was absent from the dugout though as he was struggling with flu and was in the directors box in contact with David Flitcroft who was leading the team from the dugout.

To say the first half was a dull affair would be a huge understatement and it'll be a struggle to write to much about it!

Very few chances were created but Simon Ramsden and Rory McArdle of all people shot over the bar. That was about it from Rochdale as the game passed by with nothing really happening. Jones and Doolan weren't their usual selves in midfield and rarely won anything and Doolan's passing was unusually sloppy. Adam Le Fondre offered very little up front while Rundle and Thompson were offering little in the way of creativity. Even Kennedy was having an off day. In fact, there was only really Rory McArdle who had a good game and he really stood out for Rochdale with a very solid performance. McArdle was responsible for keeping the scores at 0-0 when former Dale loanee Louis Dodds blasted a shot at goal following a mini scramble but McArdle made a fantastic block to keep it out.

Sam Russell was called into action to make saves from Frecklington and Ridley before watching Brown head over just before the half time break.

The second half saw a lot more action but it wasn't going to end happily for Rochdale.

Adam Rundle blew a great chance and one he should have done an awful lot better with as he volleyed over from inside the box.

Russell was again called into action, this time to keep an awkward freekick out that bounced just in front of him but he dealt with it well.

It was then Le Fondre's turn to miss a great opportunity and this was one I'd class as a sitter and I couldn't quite get over the fact he'd missed it. Joe Thompson did really well down the right wing and then put a fabulous cross into the box which beat the defender and with the whole goal to aim at, Le Fondre just took his eye off it and the ball sort of hit him and he couldn't get it under control as Glenn Murray followed up with a shot that was well blocked by Green.

Not long after that and Le Fondre was taken off with Kallum Higginbotham replacing him.

Higgy's introduction seemed to work for Dale and they looked a lot more dangerous with Higgy causing a lot of problems for the defence.

This seemed to trigger some Dale pressure as Higgy set up Jones who blasted over the bar. Murray also fired over before having a goal disallowed for handball and he was cautioned in the process meaning he picked up a one game suspension with his fifth yellow card of the season.

A very poor decision from the management, something we've not seen many of, then seemed to baffle most Dale fans as Murray was substituted for McEvilly. Murray had been our biggest goal threat throughout and it seemed strange to take him off.

With just under ten minutes left, Lincoln took an undeserved lead. The referee had made an awful decision and awarded a freekick which found it's way to Forrester who mishit his shot, the ball fell to Smith who forced Russell into making a cracking save but it rebounded straight to Forrester who was left with a tap in to make it 1-0.

Just over a minute later and Lincoln were 2-0 up. Dale had obviously not recovered from the body blow a couple of minutes earlier and they sat off Frecklington who drove forward unchallenged before smashing it from over twenty yards and it flew in off the post. It was a superb strike worthy of winning any game but Lincoln hadn't deserved to win the game, that said, neither had we!

The game ended 2-0 and Dale drop down to eleventh, five points off the playoffs with two games in hand over most above us.

Player Ratings:

Sam Russell - 7

Simon Ramsden - 6

Tom Kennedy - 5

Nathan Stanton - 7

Rory McArdle - 8

Joe Thompson - 6

Adam Rundle - 6

John Doolan - 5

Gary Jones - 6

Adam Le Fondre - 5

Glenn Murray - 7

Kallum Higginbotham - 7

Lee McEvilly - 6