CHERRIES failed to enhance their survival hopes this afternoon as impressive Lincoln City left Dean Court with maximum points.

Despite dominating both possession and territory in the second half, the hosts failed to create chances in front of goal as Lincoln defended solidly to claim a third consecutive victory.

Lenell John-Lewis fired Peter Jackson’s side into a 24th-minute lead and, although they were on the back foot for long periods, keeper Rob Burch was not forced into any serious saves as Cherries toiled without reward.

Jeff Goulding almost stole a dramatic draw late on but his injury-time effort drifted narrowly wide.

Jimmy Quinn kept faith with the side which defeated Dagenham and Redbridge on Tuesday night, although Sammy Igoe (back) and Joel Ward (suspended) returned to the bench.

That meant Brett Pitman and Goulding were paired in attack as the Cherries boss opted to stick with his favoured three central defenders in a 3-5-2 formation.

And it was Goulding, the big forward recruited from non-league, who came close to making it a perfect start for the hosts.

The former Fisher Athletic striker raced on to a long ball and, having managed to hold off his marker, he fired a firm shot across Lincoln stopper Burch, but just wide of the far post.

Burch was busy again in the fourth minute, as he was required to show good positioning and handling to hold on to Lee Bradbury’s close-range volley, after the visitors had failed to clear an inswinging corner from Darren Anderton.

Following these two early chances, in-form Lincoln, on the back of three wins and three draws from their past six League Two outings, enjoyed the better of the possession.

And Jackson’s men made the pressure count in the 24th minute when they took the lead with a well-worked goal.

Stefan Oakes’s pass found Lee Beevers on the left. He sneaked past Bradbury and into the penalty area before squaring the ball to John-Lewis, who guided a shot past the outstretched hand of Shwan Jalal and into the Cherries net.

An eye-catching set-piece routine called Jalal into action again within five minutes but the former Peterborough keeper saved comfortably from Lee Frecklington’s inventive volley.

Cherries, who struggled in the final third during a difficult opening half-hour, did at least have an effort on goal in the 34th minute.

Danny Hollands, found in space on the edge of the Lincoln 18-yard box by an Anderton corner, took one touch before shooting well over under pressure from defender Paul Green.

Another Anderton corner saw Cherries put the ball in the net five minutes before the break but Pitman’s strike was ruled out because referee Roger East decided that Scott Guyett had pushed Lincoln’s Danny Hone in the build-up.

Guyett, having shrugged of Hone’s challenge, had forced a great save from Burch before Pitman bundled the rebound over the line at the second time of asking, only for celebrations to be halted by the official’s whistle.

Cherries came out after the break and dominated as they went in search of a positive result.

With virtually all of the play going on deep in Lincoln territory, the hosts applied plenty of pressure, without forcing Burch to make a difficult save.

Goulding shot straight at the keeper from 20 yards after running on to a Pitman flick-on in the 51st minute, while Quinn’s men saw a penalty appeal turned down after Goulding had appeared to be pushed by Burch as the players contested a Cummings corner.

With Lincoln defending solidly, Cherries were forced to make do with putting crosses into the danger zone.

But led by the commanding Burch, the visitors ensured genuine goalscoring opportunities were hard to come by.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Lincoln wasted a golden chance to seal the points with 18 minutes remaining.

When Bradbury could only head an Oakes corner 15 yards from goal, the ball fell invitingly to Frecklington. But unmarked and on the half volley, the midfielder sent his wayward effort flying over Jalal’s crossbar.

Hollands hit the target with an attempt of his own a minute later, but the hard-working midfielder failed to get the necessary power in his header to trouble Burch, who saved comfortably.

With Cherries searching for a way back into the game, Quinn made his first substitution, as playmaker Sammy Igoe replaced skipper Anderton on 74 minutes to play in an advanced role just behind forwards Pitman and Goulding.

Despite the change, Cherries were unable to open up a resilient Lincoln and the hosts were forced to make do with injury-time efforts from Goulding and Hollands, both of which failed to test Burch.

Cherries: (3-5-2) Jalal; Guyett, Cooper, Pearce; Bradbury (Ward, 85), Anderton (Igoe, 74), Bartley (Molesley, 85), Hollands, Cummings; Pitman, Goulding. Unused subs: McQuoid, Sturrock.

Booked: Hollands

Lincoln City: (4-3-3) Burch; Green, Kovacs, Hone, Beevers; Oakes, Frecklington (Clarke, 85), Kerr; N’Guessan, John-Lewis, Patulea (Wright, 85). Unused subs: Sinclair, Gall, Duffy.

Booked: Oakes, Frecklington

Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire)