Controversy doesn't hide poor City performance

5 minutes of madness in the second half saw three players sent off and a mass brawl, however, the focus will be on yet another poor Lincoln performance. Despite dominating the match, City struggled to get all the basics right and in all honesty, we were lucky to get an equaliser. The Imps are down to 20th after the draw.

Cheltenham kicked off but it was the Imps who pressed early on with the Clarke's passing well between them and forcing the Cheltenham defence to fortify up. Gordon hit an effort wide but it wasn't long before the game's first talking point as Shane Clarke ran into the area and he was fouled as he was about to run one-on-one, despite everyone in the ground expecting a penalty to be given, the referee kept his whistle firmly away from his mouth, it certainly wasn't the last time that their was controversy during the game.

A small quiet period past before Cheltenham won a corner with pretty much their first attack of the game. The ball was chipped in and Justin Richards gladly hit a half volley that bounced off of the ground and into the net, meaning City would have to score beyond Cheltenham at home for the first time in five attempts.

Chris Fagan kept on wandering into offside positions before a dangerously high challenge just in front of the dugouts saw Torres' game ended, he was replaced by Khano Smith. The Bermudian hit a shot wide before David Bird attempted to hit a free kick from 30 yards well wide of the target.

Jamie Clarke had an effort easily saved by Brown in the final action before the half time whistle. Despite having most of the chances, City were booed off of the pitch after yet another first half.

It didn't take long in the second half for City to do something at Sincil Bank that they hadn't done since a home 1-1 draw with Notts County in March, pull level after going behind. The Imps had won a corner and also unlike the Imps, they scored following a corner as Gordon kicked it along the ground, Fagan left it and Jamie Clarke pounced for his first League goal for the Imps.

However, the Imps went back to sleep straight away and Burch barely saved a Theo Lewis header from a corner just before another thing which is rarely seen at Sincil Bank, a substitution worthy of being described as "tactical" as Oakes replaced Shane Clarke. Fagan forced Brown into a save before Pulis was booked for a foul on Lewis, I say foul, it was the Cheltenham man who collapsed after a minor shirt pull.

Then came easily the most controversial five minutes of the season so far. Aaron Brown went for the ball with Lewis and Brown was given the red card. This sparked a brawl on the touchline, mainly between Ian Pearce and Cheltenham's Barry Richardson. Everyone on the pitch, barring Lewis (who was receiving treatment) and Nathan Baker ran over to the bench and it wasn't long before the red card was flashed twice more. After it had all calmed down and five minutes after the initial tackle, both Pearce and Richardson went off. Sutton was also sent to the stands.

Lewis was then lucky to stay on the pitch after kicking Baker in the chest after the ball had already gone, but Lewis was only given the yellow card. Despite a minimum of seven minutes being given as added on time, neither side could manage a winner.