Dollies finally end long wait for first home win

It was a typical Lancaster display as the defence stood firm at the back and also provided the cutting edge in attack with Kyle Brownhill and Patrick Allington marking their names on the scoresheet for the first time.

An initially combative start from both sides gave way to a couple of quickfire chances for Rylands who nearly scored from a corner after the league’s top scorer Cal Dolan had a snapshot blocked.

Soon after a delivery dipped into a vacant centre but Sam Waller was well placed to parry Sam Egerton’s stabbed attempt.

Nico Evangelinos almost extended his weekend form in response but poked over on the stretch after ghosting into the Rylands box.

The City then went close with header that was cleared off the line by defender James Neild, but the hosts soon went ahead.

Brownhill tapped into an empty net after Joel Torrance could only parry Brad Carroll’s initial attempt.

The Dolly Blues soon doubled their advantage after the break when Brad Hubbold’s deep, in-swinging free-kick made its way beyond a sea of heads to Allington who couldn’t miss, heading in practically in line with the back post just a minute after the restart.

But the home celebrations did last long as the visitors immediately responded when Kelly N’Mai pulled a goal back after some scrappy defending.

Rylands went in search of an equaliser but Dolan’s whipped shot on the edge of the box narrowly went round the post.

Sam Bailey found the first real channel of space on the right wing at the other end but when he struck his own effort on the edge of the box it whizzed low past the far post.

The visitors specifically targeted the right wing but man-of-the-match Jamie Mellen was equal to every challenge as the seconds ticked away.

The win took City out of the relegation zone and they will look to build on two successive wins.