CREWE exited the Caraboa Cup at the first hurdle after a second half in stark contrast to the promise they showed before the break.

Lincoln made the hosts pay for first-half misses as an empty Gresty Road resonated to the dugout cheers greeting three goals in a 15-minute flurry. Billy Sass-Davies' set-piece header cancelled out Tom Hopper's opener, but Lincoln defender Lewis Montsma won the tie with a thunderous strike.

2nd half : Lancashire was agonisingly close to making the breakthrough with the centre-half glancing the bar with a header after Pickering swung in a free kick from near the right by-line.

Crewe fell behind in the 51st minute when they were caught out by a routine low cross from Anthony Scully, with no-one tracking the run of Hopper who stabbed in at the far post.

It proved to be a short-lived lead for the visitors and four minutes later Kirk ferried the ball over from the left and Sass-Davies was free as he powered a downward header past keeper Alex Palmer for his first senior Crewe goal.

But Michael Appleton's side were back in front in the 66th-minute when Montsma thrashed home from inside the box after James Jones helped on Jorge Grant's corner.

After the danger they posed in wide areas in the first period, Crewe struggled to advance effectively in the second. A rare moment of threat saw Kirk loft the ball over the box, but Mandron was backpedalling as he headed into Palmer's arms.