The collective sigh of relief could be heard as far as the banks of the Humber as Lincoln finally notched another mark in the win column.
An in-form Chester City side were swept aside in a second-half avalanche as the 10-man Imps fought back from a goal down to register a stunning 3-1 success.
And nothing pleased the Sincil Bank faithful more than the return of some pride and passion among the City ranks, the battling qualities that have featured so rarely from Keith Alexander?s men in recent weeks.
There seemed a collective will to win, the eagerness to show their supporters this season shouldn?t yet be written off and most of all that there is goals in this side after all.
But it wasn?t all sweetness and light though, as Dean Keates? red card will now see him miss the next four matches, Scott Kerr?s fifth booking of the season rules him out of the big Boxing Day clash with Boston, while there was a further decline for the once-promising Gary Birch.
Critics said upon Birch?s arrival from Kidderminster in the summer, that he was now in the last-chance saloon with City, mess this opportunity up and he could say goodbye to a future in the Football League.
But Birch couldn?t have made a better opening to his Imps career as he netted seven times in his first 12 matches. Since then though, the signs are that this was a false dawn and now he is struggling to justify a place in the starting XI. And if Alexander does sign a couple of strikers in January, then this could be the beginning of the end for Birch, unless he bucks up his ideas.
As for striking partner Richard Logan, he scored his first goal for the club and contributed well to the cause. Whether that warrants a permanent deal is still open to question ? the general view is that he will be on his way should Alexander get his men next month. And if those two players turn out to be, as hoped, Simon Yeo and Jon Parkin, then there would be no place for yet another fringe striker at the club.
It promises to be a hectic month of activity when the transfer window re-opens and it will be no surprise if City find themselves carrying out more business than most. Will Gareth McAuley and Lee Beevers be sold, will those fringe players at the club like Marvin Robinson and Maheta Molango be shown the door, while will the revolving door see some new players arrive at the bank, a list that should now contain a new midfielder?
It remains to be seen, but if we just look at Saturday?s showing then not a lot of tinkering is needed. But was that performance a one-off, or a return to their best form? Time will tell and a trip to Oxford on Friday night should give us all a clear indication.
But back to the weekend and after a forgettable first-half, in which the highlights included Marcus Richardson?s, City then found themselves a goal down just three minutes after the break.
And, of course, it came as no surprise to see Richardson net upon his return to the Bank. Given far too much space and time in the box, he drilled a low shot past Alan Marriott that nestled in the bottom corner.
Eight minutes later and City?s task became even more difficult as Keates, to the surprise of everybody, was shown a straight red card for a misdemeanour as City defended a corner. At the time it looked like he?d thrown a punch at Chester striker Ryan Lowe, but referee Grant Hegley confirmed afterwards he sent him off for foul and abusive language.
City could easily have shrunk with fear like rabbits in the glare of car headlights, but instead they rolled their sleeves up and launched a stinging riposte ? and whether by coincidence or not, a significant improvement was brought about when Birch was replaced by Marvin Robinson just past the hour-mark.
Derek Asamoah immediately saw a shot saved by Chester?s sub goalkeeper Ryan Brookfield, who had replaced Chris MacKenzie at the break, before Logan shot tamely wide a minute later.
With the visitors on the back foot, City then deservedly levelled and it was sub Robinson who instigated the move that led to the goal. He was brought down by defender Phil Bolland and receiving the ball from Paul Mayo?s free-kick, Logan smashed the ball high into the net.
Under 90 seconds later and Alexander?s men grabbed the lead. Mayo?s burst into the box was crudely halted by Tom Curtis and dusting himself down, Mayo drilled the ball into the bottom corner to send the 3,500 crowd into raptures.
Chester?s frustrations by now were not just consigned to the pitch as manager Keith Curle was sent to the stands after arguing with referee Hegley over the penalty decision.
?I was just talking to one of my own players,? claimed Curle afterwards. ?I?m sure the people at the FA are expecting another Christmas card with £500 in it.?
Now in the ascendancy, City were performing like men possessed and Robinson nearly made it three, but headed over the bar with 10 minutes left.
The Imps then had Marriott to thank as he superbly kept out a Ben Davies strike. The ball then fell to Abdol El Kholti, whose shot was cleared by McAuley.
And just to rub salt into Chester?s wounds, Asamoah added a third deep into stoppage time. After beating Brookfield to a through ball, he then had the simple task of stroking the ball into an empty net.
?I told the players to keep it tight, but then we conceded a sloppy goal which was very disappointing,? said Alexander in his post-match conference. ?Richard Logan has been playing very well, but he needed a goal ? being a forward is all about scoring goals and he was very brave.
?We played some good football and Paul Mayo redeemed himself for an earlier mistake when he stood up and took the penalty. It was a good penalty and we needed the win.?
City certainly did need the win. But that three-point haul will count for nothing if they do not build on it, starting with Oxford away on Friday night. They will need to display the same battling qualities on a more regular basis from now on and if they can just carve out a winning run, then there is still hope.
And hopefully with the arrivals of Yeo and Parkin in the summer, then it?s a case of onwards an upwards. But this is Lincoln City we?re talking about after all, isn?t it??
