Moors’ Academy side fell to their first defeat of the season on Wednesday afternoon when they were beaten 2-0 by Lincoln City.

Matty Dolan’s youngsters came into the fixture on the back of a wonderful opening to the new campaign which had seen them win three in a row in all competitions.

However, they knew it would be a tough assignment against an Imps outfit who had also won both of their National Youth League North Division One fixtures so far in 2024/25.

There was an open start to the encounter and both sides had some presentable opportunities during the early stages as it swung one way then the other.

It was the visitors who moved in front on 20 minutes though when the physicality of the Lincoln front man proved too much for Moors to deal with and he headed the first goal of the contest.

Five minutes later it was 2-0. A well-worked Lincoln set-piece wasn’t dealt with inside the box and that allowed the away side to double their advantage.

The setback provoked a positive reaction from Dolan’s youngsters though and Ethan Docherty almost claimed a wonderful solo goal when he went on a mazy only to see his shot flash just wide of the post.

Moors continued to press through the remainder of the first half but were frustrated in their efforts to get back into the game by a series of excellent saves from the City keeper.

It was a similar story at the start of the second half and Leighton Hope had a great chance to pull one back following great work from Ollie Griffiths who beat his man to whip a cross through the box.

Hayden Oakes then produced a wonderful long-range effort which almost brought Moors back into it, his curling free-kick from 25 yards just beating the bar.

Moors worked hard to find a route back, but Lincoln defended with determination and continued their 100% start to the new campaign.

“It was a really good learning curve for the lads today,” said Dolan afterwards.

“It will be good to see how they bounce back from this because it’s the first time they have been on the end of a defeat for a while.

“I am sure they will react positively though because they are a really good group of lads.

“They had their chances to have got back into the game, but you have to give credit to Lincoln for the way they defended and the resilience they showed.”

Full Time: Lincoln City 2 Moors 0

Moors: Brown, Robertson (Lynch 46), Blair (Tate 68), Stapleton (Dodds 68), Yates (Oliver 68), Neely, Oakes, Fulton, Docherty, Griffiths, Hope.