DAVE Artell branded Crewe's tame display at high-flying Lincoln as "abject" as the Railwaymen sunk to a heavy defeat.

A dismal afternoon at Sincil Bank saw the Alex fail to muster much of a threat in the final third, while at the other end they were punished by some clinical finishing from Michael Appleton's men, who stayed within two points of frontrunners Peterborough and Hull.

It was the Imps' third success of the campaign against Crewe with Morgan Rogers scoring in the first half, Conor McGrandles doubling the lead early in the second and Brennan Johnson completing the scoring late on.

Charlie Kirk went closest for Crewe, striking the post when the visitors were trailing 2-0. But the Railwaymen's away form is in stark contrast to their home record with only win in the last eight, which if not addressed will leave them falling short of the top six.

Artell admitted: "Lincoln were very good, but our performance was abject. If you have eight or nine players putting in abject performances then you are going to lose a game and probably you will lose it heavily.

"We've got to be better than that as it was not like us. We tried to play football, but we didn't. We didn't try anything and there was no real thought to our play, which was disappointing.

"I've asked the players to have a look at themselves and Kenny (Lunt) and I will be doing the same thing. It is important that we analyse why we performed like so we can learn and improve."

After back-to-back defeats, Lincoln were back on form with Johnson teeing up Rogers for the first (21). Former Crewe midfielder James Jones was involved in the second which saw McGrandles firing past Dave Richards from the edge of the box in the 52nd minute.

Sub Daniel Powell was thwarted by Imps keeper Alex Palmer when Kirk's effort cannoned back off the post before Johnson heaped more misery on Crewe 10 minutes from time, taking Tom Hopper's pass and driving into the roof of the net.

Lincoln manager Appleton said: "We looked strong when we didn't have the ball and hard to beat.

"We can defend a little bit deeper which allows us to hit teams on the counter attack. Some of the goals were fantastic and to keep a clean sheet against a team like Crewe who can be quite dangerous is pleasing."

Lincoln: Palmer; Poole, Montsma, Jackson, Bramall; Jones, Edun, McGrandles; Brennan Johnson (Scully), Morton (Hopper), Rogers (Archibald). Subs: Roughan, Eyoma, Long.

Crewe: Richards; Adibisi, Wood, Beckles, Pickering; Murphy, Wintle (Evans), Lowery, Kirk (Dale); Walker (Powell), Porter (Mandron). Subs: Jaaskelainen, Travis Johnson, Lancashire.