Lincoln City 1 Harrogate Town 2: Sulphurites 'deserved' Carabao Cup upset

The Sulphurites responded superbly to Saturday’s opening-day-of-the-season disappointment at home to Bromley, winning 2-1 at Sincil Bank against opponents who narrowly missed out on the League One play-offs last term.

Second-half strikes from Sam Folarin and James Daly put League Two Town in full control of proceedings, and it took a controversial late penalty from Jovon Makama to get the Imps back into Tuesday night’s contest.

"We deserved the win,” Weaver said. “I'm really proud, I think it was an excellent performance and we had to do it at a place where we knew it was going to be difficult.

"We saw the draw and we thought ‘it's a real challenge’. This is a powerful outfit and they put it right on you. And, after Bromley we had to learn harsh lessons and tonight was a big step up in my view and we deserve to get through to the next round.

"I actually thought that we were quite comfortable until the referee gave a very dubious penalty in their direction. And then, suddenly, their fans are invigorated and they're actually fancying the chances that they might sneak another one or another decision. Because that's what got them back in it.

"But I was still happy with the back line, happy with everyone digging in. I thought it was a street-wise performance.”

Saturday saw Town serve up a fairly dismal display on their way to a 2-0 loss against newly-promoted Bromley in what was their first competitive outing of 2024/25.

And, although Weaver admitted that that performance left him feeling pretty down over the weekend, he said that his players deserve plenty of credit for righting those wrongs.

“We had to learn harsh lessons. And that's what it's about. Everybody learning together,” he added.

“I thought the first half was a step up from the two halves from Saturday where we did okay first half – there were glimpses but I still thought we didn't win enough individual battles. And in the area we got bullied.

"Tonight, we didn't get bullied against a big team so that's a big step up. Everybody reacted to positive constructive criticism yesterday because it was hard.

"It was hard Saturday, it was horrible Sunday but we reflected and we bounced back today.”

There was very little to choose between the sides during the opening 45 minutes, with Town looking solid at the back and creating the best opportunity to break the deadlock shortly before the interval.

James Daly got in down the right and delivered an inviting cross for strike partner Folarin, but he somehow failed to apply a finishing touch with the goal at his mercy.

But, the former Middlesbrough forward made up for that miss within five minutes of the resumption.

Ellis Taylor showed real quality deep in Lincoln territory, driving infield from the left wing and past a couple of defenders on his way into the penalty area, where he picked out Folarin, who finished first time from close range.

Things got even better for Harrogate just after the hour-mark as they benefited once again from the aggressive off-the-ball pressing which served them so well throughout the contest.

Zico Asare did enough to force an error from Dom Jefferies, with the loose ball running kindly for Daly, who slotted a left-footed finish beyond the stranded Zach Jeacock from just outside the box.

Moments of concern were few and far between for the Sulphurites during the final half-an-hour, but Lincoln were gifted a route back into the contest when Toby Sims was harshly adjudged to have brought down substitute Ben House in the 84th minute.

Makama stepped up to send James Belshaw the wrong way from 12 yards, but that was as good as it would get for Michael Skubala’s Imps.