The Lincoln derby saw City were aiming for a 5^th straight pre-season win over the Whites. United were relegated from the Unibond Premier Division last season, having one of the worst home records in the entire country.

The Imps lined up with Rob Burch in goal, Paul Green, Stuart Giddings, Beevers and Sinclair were in the defence. Kerr, Freck, N'Guessan  and LJL lined up in midfield with Ben Wright and former Lincoln United striker, Sam Mullarkey up front. City also had Ayden Duffy, Aaron Brown, Shane Clarke, Danny Hone, Gary King, Janos Kovacs, Stefan Oakes, Adrian Patulea, Martin Pembleton, Owain Warlow and Ben Wright on the bench.

United's squad had a few e-Imps, including Jack McGovern and Ian Wilkins. Mario Ziccardi was between the sticks with Porter and George joining McGovern and Wilkins in defence. McDaid, Forbes, Mallinson and Wilkinson in the midfield, Walters and Wallace up front.

City kicked off the game and were immediately on the attack. However, United were also having a fair amount of possession. A great ball out right fell to LJL and he fed it to Sinclair, he played a ball forward and David Graham had the games first shot. A United fan put up a "Lawless Out" flag behind the goal.

United broke forward but squandered possession before Graham missed a point blank chance for the hosts, Giddings shooting wide from the rebound. Another City resulted in a corner and United counter-attacked from this, shooting quite a fair way wide of the target. Another City corner saw Graham head over from just outside the 6 yard area.

Mullarkey opened the scoring with 17 minutes gone, capitalising on an N'Guessan run to slot past Ziccardi. United almost equalised straight away with a run that wsa only stopped at the last minute. Good defending from Sinclair stopped another attack a minute later. United were starting to impose themselves on the game and a header went just wide of the target.

United were actually playing quite well considering they play 4 division below the Imps and Green had to head a shot off the line to prevent United equalising. City finally broke United's spell of domination by winning a corner but it came to nothing. Good skill from Frecklington almost produced a goal for the Imps, he back-heeled through ball just failed to reach N'Guessan before Ziccardi picked the ball up.

Burch's first decent save came from a United volley before Graham's volley for City went just wide of the target. Frecklington headed wide just before half time. A good attacking move saw the Imps go 2-0 up in the final minute of the first half. An LJL cross was headed back across goal and the Scottish striker tapped into an empty net.

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