Lincoln managed to once again survive by the skin of their teeth in what was another tough and rather joyless season at Sincil Bank. David Holdsworth was looking to make a strong start of the season despite having a pretty weak and limited squad and a 1:0 win on the opening day of the season against Kidderminster proved their only success all the way to mid-September. In general, the team was playing with a truncated and rather unimaginative style, struggling to pass the ball well and mostly looking for the long balls. Narrow home wins over Hyde and Neneaton hardly convinced as Lincoln continued to falter around the bottom four, failing to show the performances worthy of a club with their status. However, things started to look brighter in November when three wins on the bounce, putting good performances in all of them, lifting the mood in the team. Moreover, a very good 3:2 win away at Walsall in a FA Cup replay set up a tie against Mansfield that would eventually prove fateful for both clubs. They were both coming to the tie in early December in good form and served up a very good game that finished 3:3. The stakes for the replay were made a lot higher by the draw that paired the winner with Liverpool with the incentive of a large cash injection along with the prestige of facing one of the biggest clubs in the world. Lincoln battled hard in this replay but an unlucky deflected goal eventually consigned them to a frustrating and painful 2:1 loss, leaving them to contemplate the cost of the goal conceded right at the end of the original tie. Understandably, that loss caused a big damage to the morale of the team and Holdsworth seemed unable to repair that damage in the weeks to come. A run of seven games without a win followed in the early weeks of 2013 and suddenly the play-off aspirations were replaced by relegation anxiety. In fact, a narrow 2:1 win at home to Dartford in early February proved the only victory Lincoln had in a space of 14 games, putting them right in the mire. Holdsworth lost his job after a 3:2 loss at Hereford and the club appointed Gary Simpson as his replacement. He did not have a great start, winning just one of his first five games in charge, but made the team more solid and tough to beat and eventually three wins on the spin moved them clearer of the bottom four with a few weeks of the season left. There was still a lot of work to be done but a massive 2:1 victory over Tamworth a week before the end eventually secured safety and spared the club a very costly and potentially fatal relegation. Yet, there is little to be happy about in a season of mediocrity and one huge missed opportunity.
