Liam Harris netted the winner in the first half
Fleetwood Town’s youth team were knocked out of the Youth Alliance Cup on Saturday following a narrow defeat to Lincoln City at Poolfoot Farm.A solitary first-half strike from Liam Harris was enough to win it for the Imps in a feisty affair on a sun-kissed afternoon on the Fylde Coast.
Nathan Rooney’s side succumbed to their first defeat of the season following a bright start to their campaign, which has included two wins and a draw in their opening three fixtures.
The first chance of the encounter fell to the visitors, with the young codlings lucky to survive after Lincoln hit the crossbar from a corner early on.
Michael Tetteh then had Fleetwood’s first opening, as he curled his free-kick straight into the hands of the goalkeeper.
Town looked to add pressure upon the Lincoln back-line, however were thwarted in their efforts on goal.
After 27 minutes, Lincoln took the lead in the cup tie courtesy of a 27th minute strike from Harris.
Harris reacted first to the ball after it was deflected into his path, before firing under the body of the on-rushing Max Johnstone.
As the half wore on, both sides would go onto have their chances at goal, with neither team adding to the score-line before the interval.
With the second-half underway, Lincoln could have doubled their advantage but were denied by Tetteh’s goal line clearance.
Lincoln were keen to add to their lead, however Fleetwood’s back four remained resilient from the physicality that the visitors had to offer.
Town threatened an equaliser when the Lincoln goalkeeper acrobatically tipped Jordan Hancox’s strike away from goal, with Mamadou Djabi hitting the post from the following effort.
Djabi went close for Fleetwood again, though he couldn’t get a full connection to a free-kick from the left.
But Town couldn’t secure the equaliser that they had craved throughout the game, and bowed out of the competition.