It was another glorious August afternoon, but the sunshine was the only thing that linked Accrington Stanley's trips to Wycombe and Lincoln City.

Unlike on the opening day of the season, the Reds returned to East Lancashire with no points and no goals as they drew a blank for the third successive match.

Manager John Coleman suffered a double blow to his preparations when both Peter Cavanagh and Graham Branch were ruled out through injury and illness respectively, forcing Coleman to make two defensive changes with Phil Edwards and Leam Richardson drafted into the full back positions.

Initially the defensive changes appeared to have little effect as neither side imposed themselves in the early stages with most of the play taking place in the middle third of the pitch.

It was the visitors who created with the first half chance, with Rommy Boco firing wide from distance on the left on 11 minutes.

But this was not to be the trend for the first half as Lincoln threatened as the clock ticked on. After the Imps first applied the pressure with a number of corners, Stanley keeper Kenny Arthur found himself tested for the first time on the quarter of an hour mark.

The wily Jamie Forrester ghosted into the box and from a tight angle on the right fired in a shot. But Arthur was equal to it, parrying well at his near post to put the ball out for a corner.

The Stanley number one looked in confident mood as moments later he rose to claim a cross from the lively Dany N'Guessan after the Frenchman had evaded Edwards.

But his hopes of keeping a clean sheet were dashed on 31 minutes when left winger N'Guessan again beat Edwards to latch onto Forrester's pass and fire the ball past Arthur left-footed into the bottom right corner.

And seconds later N'Guessan could have had a second as he saw his shot from the left channel charged down by Andy Procter. In need of an equaliser, Stanley looked to create chances, but with the exception of another Boco effort which flew wide the Reds failed to alarm Imps keeper Alan Marriott.

With the deficit just one goal at the break, a bright start to the second period would see the visitors back in it.

And the Reds returned to the field with a renewed sense of purpose having seemingly put their problems behind them.

In the early stages they built up some pressure, forcing a number of corners and prompting some defensive lapses by the home side. All they needed was a clear cut chance.

When Lee Frecklington fouled John Miles just outside the box on 58 minutes they had one, and Miles picked himself up and dusted himself down to take the free kick from the edge of the D.

With a five man wall in place he elected to float the ball over them, but his delicate effort was just wide of the right hand post.

Stanley's best chance fell to Edwards on 62 as he galloped forward from right back and found himself inside the Lincoln area.

From 12 yards out the 21-year-old was thwarted by Marriott, who parried his right foot shot.

But pushing forward meant that Stanley were vulnerable on the break as demonstrated when Arthur was forced to deny Forrester with his legs moments later.

However there was little the Scot could do about City's second goal which came on 66 minutes.

Mark Stallard surged into the box from the left and was brought down by Robbie Williams, but not before squaring the ball across the face of goal.

The Stanley defence stood motionless, expecting the whistle to blow for a penalty but Louis Dodds was alert, firing the ball into the top right from close range.

Coleman immediately replaced a tiring Boco with Shaun Whalley in the hope of energising his attack, but despite Lee McEvilly firing a shot straight at Marriott the reds created little in the final third.

Things could have got worse for the visitors 15 minutes from the end when Williams clipped the heels of the advancing N'Guessan and then had a heated exchange with midfielder Jamie Hand.

Referee Jarnail Singh decided that a yellow card was sufficient for the Stanley number four and the travelling fans breathed a sigh of relief.

N'Guessan was a constant menace and but for the agility of Arthur would have added a third in the dying minutes. His venomous left-footed drive from 30 yards out on the right looked destined for the top corner, but the Stanley keeper extended himself to palm the ball wide for a corner.