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Lincoln City suffered heartbreak on Teesside this afternoon, as a late Will Lankshear goal denied them a brave point in the opening fixture. Unbeaten for 29 league matches, they came within minutes of making it 30, only for the brave resistance to be beaten by a close range finish from the Middlesbrough man. City started in a 3-4-3, with Ryley Towler coming in for Rob Street. That was the only change for City, with Tom Bayliss joining new signings Tanato Olafoe, Andrei Coubis, Mason Melia and Callum Elder on the bench. Boro featured former Imps loanee Morgan Whittaker among their starters, as well as Leo Castledine, who scored against us for Huddersfield in January. City barely had a meaningful touch of the ball during the opening three minutes, although the first effort of the afternoon came from Luke Ayling, who tried his luck from 25 yards and sent his effort well wide. The Imps then began to settle. Callum Brittain fouled Ben House as the City forward tried to get around the outside, with House buying a useful free kick in an advanced position. The resulting delivery caused a scramble inside the Boro area before the ball eventually dropped for Adam Reach, whose effort took a deflection and went behind for the first City corner. Boro cleared the initial delivery, but City immediately regained possession and good work from Freddie Draper forced another corner. There was then a brief concern for Conor McGrandles, who went down in the middle of the park and needed a stoppage before eventually getting gingerly back to his feet. Ivan Varfolomeev’s corner after eight minutes caused another moment of concern for the hosts, with Radek Vitek forced to punch the delivery over. At the other end, Kyle Joseph got behind Deji Elerewe three minutes later and managed to hold off the defender before going to ground under the challenge. The home crowd were convinced there had been no foul, but referee Bobby Madley thought otherwise. City’s promising start was rewarded after 12 minutes. Draper did superbly to nod down a delivery from George Wickens into the path of Tendayi Darikwa, who got forward before pulling the ball back across the area. House intelligently left it, allowing Reach to arrive and side-foot a first-time finish beyond Vitek to give the Imps the lead. Boro looked for an immediate response and Darikwa conceded a free kick on the edge of the area after bringing down Castledine. The former Chelsea midfielder initially thought the offence had taken place inside the box, but Madley correctly pointed outside. Castledine took the resulting free kick himself, although his weak effort struck the wall and was cleared. Abdoulaye Kante then met a Boro corner on the edge of the area but sent his effort well over, before Sebastian Berhalter provided a much better delivery from a free kick after 21 minutes. Adilson Malanda met it with his head, although the attempt was straight at Wickens. City continued to offer a threat of their own. Dom Jefferies escaped down the side after 23 minutes and saw a cross-shot deflected behind for a corner. Tom Hamer recycled the resulting delivery and eventually worked himself into shooting space, only to see another effort deflected wide as the Imps enjoyed another spell of sustained pressure. Draper was proving a real handful for the Boro defence. Just before the half-hour mark, he used his strength superbly to retain possession and find a pass, allowing Reach to deliver across goal, but the ball narrowly evaded everyone arriving at the back post. Will Lankshear had a chance for Boro after 32 minutes when he peeled away at the back post and met a cross, drawing an excellent save from Wickens, although a free kick had already been awarded. A minute later the hosts threatened again, Kante hanging a cross towards the back post where Ayling could only head wide. Draper’s physical approach earned him the first booking of the afternoon after 36 minutes. He used his body in a challenge with a Boro defender before carrying his momentum into Ayling, with Madley showing the City striker a yellow card. Boro then produced one of their best openings of the half. Joseph broke down the left and sent the ball across the face of goal, where it seemed to evade everyone before McGrandles managed to get the faintest of touches to take it away from the waiting attackers. House was on the receiving end of a poor challenge from Berhalter moments later, the Boro midfielder going in studs up, although the punishment was only a free kick. There was then a huge penalty appeal from the hosts after 43 minutes. Whittaker weaved his way into the area and came together with McGrandles before going to ground, but Madley was unmoved and allowed play to continue. Joseph came desperately close to levelling during first-half stoppage time. Boro broke quickly and, despite City recovering numbers behind the ball, a cross was touched goalwards and Wickens reacted well to make a strong save and turn it behind for a corner. There was still time for Draper to create another opening at the other end. He outmuscled Ayling to win possession before getting a shot away, although the finish was tame and drifted wide. It did little to detract from an excellent first-half display from the City striker.