THUMP. After such glorious beginnings York City plummeted back to earth with all the grace of a cussing lumberjack.

Reality did not just bite but savage the Minstermen at Sincil Bank where, in a battle between beauty and the beast, brawn overcame brain in no uncertain terms.

Lincoln are a team to make purists wince. Fast, furious and direct, they are as subtle as a sledgehammer. Ugly they might be, but they are effective. The Imps had clearly done their homework and deserved their win, although the margin of victory was flattering.

They gave City little opportunity to settle into their close passing game and simply out-muscled the Minstermen.

Much has been made of City's tremendous work ethic that had guided them to four consecutive wins and top place.

But on Saturday, the Minstermen found their match in a highly-motivated Lincoln side who chased and challenged for every ball. Credit must go to Lincoln then, but City were still a pale shadow of the side that had sparkled so brightly in their previous outings.

There was no shortage of effort but their passing, instrumental in recent successes, was as soggy as it had been crisp and the cocksure swagger of previous outings was a more nervy shuffle.

The warning signs that all was not quite right came as early as the first minute on Saturday, when Richard Butcher snatched possession from Mitch Ward with a precision tackle.

The ball was swept wide to Mark Bailey, who skipped away from Dave Merris and centred only for his cross to clip the City crossbar.

The thwack should have been an early wake-up call but the Minstermen continued to stumble and fumble thereafter.

In contrast, Lincoln buzzed likes bees around a honey pot and their superiority was rewarded on 21 minutes with a goal as simple as it was unsubtle.

A long throw from Bailey arrowed on to the head of the giant Ben Futcher loitering on the penalty spot. From the knock-down, the City defence stood motionless as Gary Fletcher pounced to poke home from six yards.

Futcher's forehead and high-balls from dead-balls continued to unsettle City, who, as the half drew to a close seemingly abandoned their passing instinct and decided to fight fire with fire.

Five minutes before the break, a long-ball into the box almost hit the jackpot.

Ward's free-kick was nodded back across goal by Lee Bullock into the path of Richard Hope. Less than ten yards from goal, Hope drilled his shot over the bar. It was a golden chance. If only it had fallen to a striker.

Still, optimism was renewed and as the second half got underway there were signs City's sluggishness had been left in the dressing-room.

Liam George was unfortunate to see a low, goal-bound drive hit the heels of an unsuspecting Lincoln defender before Ward forced a brilliant finger-tip save from Alan Marriott with a curling shot that was destined for the top corner.

But, just as City started to look familiar, disaster struck.

Merris intercepted Butcher's low cross but dallied too long as he prepared to clear and the Lincoln midfielder pick-pocketed possession back before unleashing an unstoppable drive beyond Mark Ovendale.

Worse was to follow for City. Ten minutes from time Darren Dunning was adjudged to have hauled down Bailey and referee Kevin Friend pointed to the spot.

It looked harsh on Dunning, who had seemingly played the ball, but Friend compounded the Minstermen's misery by deeming the City midfielder was the last man and brandished a red card. City's tale of woe was completed when Paul Mayo fairly smacked the penalty past Ovendale.

It was a disappointing end to a disappointing afternoon but there is clearly no need to panic.

Form is temporary while class is permanent, after all. Any team can have a bad day at the office and a side so fluent in their previous performance does not become a poor one overnight.

The record books can be shelved at least. And real-deal teams don't dwell in defeat or lick their wounds for too long but bounce back swiftly.

The manner in which City recover from this blip should tell us much.

Match facts:

York City:

Ovendale 6 - Not at fault for the goals

Edmondson 6 - Couldn't get on front foot

(Downes 58, 6 - Showed glimpses)

Wood 7 - Competed for every ball

Hope 6 - Battled but a bit inconsistent

Merris 5 - Bad mistake for second goal

Cooper 6 - Effort but little impact

Dunning 6 - Harshly sent-off

*Ward - 7 Neat and tidy

Bullock - 6 - Struggled to impose himself

Nogan 6 - Effort could not be faulted

(Parkin 61 - No real chance to impress)

George 6 - Tried hard but nothing came off (Stewart 76)

Subs (not used): Porter, Brackstone

Lincoln:

Marriott, Bailey, Weaver, Morgan, Futcher, Mayo, Butcher, Liburd (Yeo 69), Gain, Cropper (Richardson 62), Fletcher (McNamara 78)

Subs (not used): Bloomer, Willis

Yellow cards: Bullock 10, George 24, Weaver 45, Wood 71, Ovendale 74

Red card: Dunning 80

Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire) Zealous with the cards

Attendance: 3,892

Weather watch: Bright and breezy

Game breaker: Marriott's save to deny Ward on 64m. City would have been back in the game

Match rating: One to forget

Updated: 09:56 Monday, September 01, 2003