York City failed to heed the warnings last night and paid the price as a cruel late strike saw them go down 2-1 at Lincoln City.

An under-strength City defence conceded a goal two minutes from the start and another two minutes from the end, and it was the manner in which they allowed Lincoln to score that angered boss Terry Dolan.

A siren sounds around Sincil Bank every time the hosts win a flag kick, as if warning the visiting defence that a bomb was about to drop in their penalty area. More importantly, the City chief had fore-warned his players that the Imps would be dangerous from set-pieces around the box.

Yet straight from the off, the Minstermen did not appear alert to the danger and allowed Grant Brown to head home Richard Peacock's in-swinging corner, just seconds after scrambling away the hosts' first flag kick.

"I said before we came here that we were going to have to defend corners, free-kicks and long throws," said Dolan.

"I think the players realised after 20 minutes that I was right. But by then we had failed to deal with the first one and found ourselves a goal down."

As for Gavin Gordon's 88th-minute winner, he said: "We had the chances to clear the ball but we didn't and we lost the game. We've done it for 89 minutes but the game lasts longer than that.

"A lack of concentration and players not doing the right things cost us the game. If the players don't do their jobs there's not a lot we can do about it."

"It proves you can't get away with that back four," Dolan ominously said of the makeshift defence which, with six first-team defenders all ruled out, again included striker Colin Alcide in the middle as well as new-boy Neville Stamp on the left.

"Darren Edmondson will be back from suspension on Saturday but we'll have no-one else available so we've got between now and then to work on it."

Last night's match proved an unhappy return to Sincil Bank for former Lincoln striker Alcide.

"I know most of the boys here and I'm good friends with them but you always want to put one over on your old clubs," he said.