City head coach Michael Skubala praised the way his side battled to defeat Grimsby Town 2-1 in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy group stages on Tuesday night.
The Imps had to come from behind to emerge victorious from the Lincolnshire derby after Jason Svanthorsson scrambled home to put the hosts ahead, but Bailey Cadamarteri's goal drew City level before Jack Moylan's strike four minutes into time added on moved his side up to second in Northern Group G.
Skubala said: "It was great to get a late winner. Though we got caught for their goal, I thought after that we pushed the game, looked lively and the intensity in what we did was really good.
"The two goals were magnificent. Bailey's leap for his was brilliant, while Jack's was an excellent finish.
"Jack is a threat and he just needs to get that balance between when he shoots and doesn't shoot. At the end, it was the perfect time to get a shot away, while a couple of times on the right side, he maybe didn't need to shoot. He's still working all that out, but we know he's got a threat and it was a great goal.
"The pleasing thing was we had players on the pitch who were coming back. It was great to see Reeco Hackett again, and also Ethan Hamilton building up minutes.
"The young lads who came in were solid too and there were pleasing performances all over the pitch."
He added: "One thing with this group is it doesn't matter who we play against, we'll give them a game and go after it. A lot of teams sit at 1-1, but we went after the win. They have to be brave.
"We want to be in this competition and put a team out that could win the game and have a bench ready to go that could affect it. We pushed on and won the game."
