City exited the Women’s FA Cup at the hands of Derby County, despite a spirited effort from Lee Mitchell’s side.
After both teams observed a minute’s silence for Remembrance Sunday, Derby County got the FA Cup tie underway.
It was the away side who created the first chance of the game, as Eleanor Ashton drilled a cross into City’s penalty area, which Poppy Irvine did well to divert away from goal.
15 minutes into the game, the Rams found the opener, as Amy Sims directed a cross from the right-hand side into the corner of the net.
Despite conceding the goal, the Imps were doing well to press the away side and prevent them from creating many clear-cut chances.
Derby were forced into an early change around the 30 minute mark, as an injured Jackson was replaced by Steggles.
The away side struck the post 35 minutes into the first-half, with a low driven shot from Molly Sutherland.
Not long after, Poppy Irvine pulled off a magnificent fingertip save to deny Derby’s Emily Joyce, flicking the ball over the crossbar for a corner.
County doubled their lead with minutes remaining in the first-half, as Amy Sims scored her second goal of the game, dinking the ball over Irvine and into the net.
City headed into the break two goals down, but showed a good defensive shape and organisation throughout the first 45, limiting Derby to only a few efforts at goal.
The away side scored their third goal not long after the resumption of the second-half. Steggles’ cross fell to Yasmin Mosby who placed the ball past Irvine in the Lincoln goal.
McHamilton was doing well to hold up the ball for the Imps, as they tried to find a way back into the match.
In the 56th minute, City got a goal back through Toni McHamilton. Lucy Farrow made a driving run through the heart of the Derby defence, forcing Morgan into a save. But the rebound fell kindly to McHamilton who made no mistake from short range.
A short stoppage in play followed, as Maddi Green collided with the County goalkeeper but was able to continue.
Derby added a fourth goal 63 minutes in, as Amy Sims completed her hat-trick by slotting the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.
City made their first substitute of the game with around 20 minutes left to play, as Millie Quaintance entered the pitch in place of Katie Williams.
County responded with two changes of their own, bringing on Rhodes-Andrews and Cotton for Ashton and Sutherland.
Another change soon followed for the Imps, with Maddi Green being replaced by Jemima Footitt.
During the latter stages of the match, City remained compact and limited the opposition to efforts from range.