Steve Cotterill unhappy with Shrewsbury disallowed goal

Luke Leahy's header five minutes after the break earned visitors Town a point in a competitive 1-1 draw.

Conor McGrandles nodded in just before lengthy first half stoppage time - due to a concussion for defender Adam Jackson - to hand Lincoln the breakthrough.

And either side could lay claim to be deserved winners from an enthralling final half hour with chances aplenty at either end. Both sides had 17 shots on goal and seven on target.

But Cotterill was unhappy with referee Bobby Madley's decision to rule out a seemingly legal header from Pennington just after Lincoln's opener, after which his assistant immediately flagged for an alleged foul on goalkeeper Josh Griffiths.

"No, I'm disappointed with a point. We scored a perfectly good goal in the first half, Matthew Pennington's header, it was never a foul on the goalkeeper, he was nowhere near him," Cotterill said.

"Dan Udoh was nowhere near him, he falls over, and if anything he falls over his own player.

"We could've won the game today, if you look at the chances we've had.

"It's good to come to a place like Lincoln and get plenty of chances, I thought we were strong and deserved to win the game 2-1."

The Town boss, whose side remain without a win away after picking up just a second point on the road, added: "I didn't think there was anything wrong with it, now I've looked at the laptop I'm absolutely convinced there's nothing wrong with it.

"And you will all see that when you go and look at it, otherwise I wouldn't come and say it and look a bit of a fool after it."

Cotterill added of former Premier League official Madley, who has dropped into the Football League in recent seasons: "Yes (it was given as a foul), but it was never a foul on the keeper in a million years.

"I was quite pleased when I saw he was refereeing the game today, I'm slightly disappointed now looking back.

"He (Griffiths) didn't need any protection from that, it wasn't a foul."

Leahy powered in a header for his fourth goal of the season – to go joint top of the charts with Ryan Bowman – from a dangerous George Nurse throw-in, something the Imps failed to deal with all afternoon.

"He hasn't been a bad signing, I suppose," Cotterill said.

"He's done very well, Luke, it's funny, I don't think he necessarily had his best game, he's played a lot better and not scored, but he's come up with a timely goal.

"There's a tinge of disappointment, which is quite good, because we feel we could've won it."

He added of Nurse's dangerous throws: "We haven't tended to use them, but we thought in this game it could cause them problems and that ended up being the case.

"It was decent from George and we were a threat from them."

Cotterill said of a competitive affair overall: "It was a bit of a ding dong game, really, a good League One game I felt, two teams going at it trying to get the win.

"That's what happens sometimes, with two teams going to get the win and you end up with a draw."