ALDERSHOT TN 2,

LINCOLN CITY 0

IF Steve Claridge, lurking in the press box, was scouting the opposition ahead of Saturday's FA Cup match at Millwall, he may have noted that Aldershot are a potential banana skin for the League One high-fliers.

Aldershot, though not at their best, recovered from a slow start to score twice and beat Lincoln with some ease on Tuesday night.

Back-to-back wins leaves them a handy 11th in the table and their confidence boosted for the trip to the New Den.

Claridge, a Radio 5 pundit, played for both Aldershot and Millwall during his well-travelled, illustrious career and remarked in that inimitable voice that can be heard over an express train, that both teams were guilty of "not keeping it simple."

A former predatory centre-forward, Claridge may have had a point as both teams, in the first half at least, went in for too much intricacy around the box, rather than just get the ball in early towards the strikers.

Yet both the goals were simple affairs, both coming from set-pieces, one scrappy, one sweet.

It was easy to see why the goals have dried up for the Red Imps after their excellent start to the season. They could have scored twice in the first five minutes, only denied by the brilliance of keeper Nikki Bull, but after that, for all their pace in midfield and emphasis on attack, they sadly lacked a cutting-edge.

Aldershot, in contrast, were much sharper in front of goal. On another night, Marvin Morgan and John Grant could have had a brace apiece, but if they were out of luck, the midfield were not, and Andy Sandell and Scott Davies came up with the goals that mattered, the former scoring his first for the club.

Lincoln immediately threatened down the flanks through the pace of Aaron Brown and Danny N'Guessan and had the lion's share of possession for the first half-hour.

With only four minutes gone, Lee Frecklington slipped Brown through a square defence, but Bull raced out to make a vital block. Brown's resulting corner was easily won by towering defender Janos Kovacs, but the Hungarian's powerful header was superly tipped over by the keeper.

Had City scored then, it might have been different. As it was, Aldershot's new centre-back pairing of Anthony Charles and Ricky Newman took a grip on the game and, with 20 minutes gone, it was Lincoln on the back foot as Sandell cut a swathe through defenders before setting up Ben Harding with a clear chance. This time, it was Rob Burch's turn to make a timely block.

Morgan, having already missed a couple of half-chances, was then released by Grant's astute ball, but Burch got his body in the way of the tall striker's lunging shot.

Lincoln were still seeing much more of the ball, so it was against the run of play when Aldershot made the breakthrough on 36 minutes.

Davies' inswinging corner caused a skirmish in the goalmouth, during which Burch was flattened and Sandell prodded the ball over the line. Referee Phil Crossley saw nothing untoward and although the keeper needed lengthy treatment, the goal stood.

Morgan tried to help Lincoln back into the game with a back-header that hit the top of his own crossbar and, early in the second half, skipper Charles made a timely sliding tackle to deny Frecklington.

Thereafter, Aldershot increasingly took control, with full-backs Anthony Straker and Chris Blackburn raising their game to cut City's wide men out of the game.

The second goal came on the hour and effectively settled the outcome. Newman's quick free-kick was headed down by Sandell and Davies used his sweet left foot to drive the ball high into the net from 12 yards.

Aldershot comfortably saw the game out against their goal-shy opponents. Lincoln had one good chance to make it interesting when Paul Green played in a dangerous cross from the right, but a flying Bull deflected the ball just enough to wrong-foot the posse of players arriving at the far post.

"It's a good result for us," said manager Gary Waddock. "Professional, disciplined, and we got a clean sheet on top of that.

"It was important to get the first goal, especially with the tempo the way it was. It wasn't a real fierce encounter – I would have liked the tempo to be higher.

He paid a special tribute to goalkeeper Nikki Bull. "His concentration levels are excellent and he's a vital part of this squad."

Aldershot: Bull, Blackburn, Newman, Charles, Straker, Soares, Harding, Davies, Sandell, Grant, Morgan (Elvins 77). Subs (not used): Jaimez-Ruiz, Donnelly, Mendes, Chalmers.

Lincoln City: Burch, Green, Kovacs, Hone, Beevers, Frecklington (Graham 70), Oakes, Kerr, N'Guessan, John-Lewis (Wright 53), Brown. Subs (not used): Duffy, Sinclair, Clarke. Booked: Kovacs.

Attendance: 2,625.

Referee: Phil Crossley (Kent).