Lincoln City struggled throughout their first campaign in the non-league after relegation but eventually saved themselves from the drop with a couple of games to spare. That was always going to be a challenging season after the painful and costly relegation from League Two and manager Steve Tilson had his hands tied in terms of budget. His men were off to a rather slow start to the season, winning just one of their first nine games of the season and playing with very little invention and attacking ability. They were able to keep it tight at the back but were completely hopeless up front where Kyle Perry was struggling to get into any sort of form. Tilson seemed to be under pressure with the next defeat probably going to be a fatal one with October coming and indeed a miserable 4:0 loss at Tamworth spelled the end for the former Southend boss. It took a while for a replacement to be found but David Holdsworth was given the job of steering the sailing ship to safety. He quickly got down to business despite a miserable start by losing to Alfreton in the FA Cup. He signed a few players on loan to freshen the squad and initially a few good results steadied the ship. There was little consistency in the team though and results fluctuated between promising ones and downright awful. The Imps were humbled by local rivals Grimsby in two consecutive games in the festive period and soon after that lowly Carshalton knocked the team out of the FA Trophy. Holdsworth was now feeling the pressure after a number of poor results coupled of dreadful playing style but his men responded to the challenge by coming from behind to get a draw away at Gateshead and then beating Southport 2:0 at home. The fillip proved short-lived though as the constant injuries meant that the starting 11 remain unsettled and with the exception of keeper Joe Anyon and midfielder Alan Power, no player could say that they were having a decent season. Lincoln sank into real panic mode in early March after a particularly bad run of results that saw defeats to Alfereton at home and away at Bath City. At that moment the Imps were sitting just above the drop zone and looking in grave danger given that the teams around them had found some form. However, the group pulled together and picked four wins from the next six games, beating emphatically Tamworth, Darlington and Newport County and getting the better of direct rivals Hayes & Yeading away from home. That timely surge of form helped the Imps beat the drop but overall it has been a thoroughly underwhelming and disappointing campaign of very few highlights.
