Town face a replay at Sincil Bank after their FA Cup first round tie with Lincoln City ended 1-1. Tyler Walker put the visitors ahead on 37 and, after the Imps goalscorer had seen a second-half penalty saved by Will Norris, Andre Dozzell curled home an equaliser 79th minute.
Town boss Paul Lambert changed all 10 outfield players for with keeper Will Norris the only survivor from Tuesday’s 1-0 League One win at Rochdale.
Ex-Imp James Wilson and Toto Nsiala started at the centre of a four-man backline with Janoi Donacien at right-back and Myles Kenlock on the left.
Flynn Downes and stand-in skipper Emyr Huws were in the pair in central midfield with Dozzell on the right and Blues full debutant Anthony Georgiou on the left. Will Keane was up front with Armando Dobra playing off him.
In contrast, Lincoln made one change from the team which drew 1-1 at AFC Wimbledon last week with Jake Hesketh taking over from Jorge Grant, who dropped to the bench.
Ex-Blues loanee Callum Connolly started, while former Norwich central defender Jason Shackell skippered.
Following the traditional Remembrance Day tributes, the game got under way in front of a now familiar low FA Cup crowd with the upper sections of some stands closed and Lincoln’s following given the whole of the Cobbold Stand.
The visitors hit the game’s first strike in the fifth minute but Jack Payne’s low effort failed to trouble Norris who pushed it away low to his left before claiming.
Lincoln appealed for a penalty after Hesketh went to ground inside the area but referee Kevin Johnson waved away his appeals with few of his team-mates joining in the protests.
Town threatened for the first time in the 11th minute when Downes won the ball inside the Imps’ half and brought it forward before feeding Keane to his right. The ex-Hull City man hit a shot from a tight angle which Lincoln keeper Josh Vickers batted away.
After a scruffy for 20 minutes, the Blues briefly took charge and put the visitors under some pressure.
On 24 Georgiou and Dobra exchanged passes on the left and the on-loan Tottenham man sent over a powerfully struck low ball which flew across the Lincoln six-yard box but without anyone being able to get the vital touch.
Five minutes later, Hesketh was booked for a late challenge on Kenlock as the Blues broke following a Lincoln corner. Play was waved on but Huws was eventually held up and then tripped, however, referee Johnson gave the decision the other way, not for the first time, much to the annoyance of the Welshman and the Town crowd.
Dobra joined Hesketh in the book on 33 for a foul on Bruno Andrade as he looked to win the ball back having lost it as he sought take it past Joe Morrell.
A minute later, the Albanian U19 international turned the ball against Connolly from the edge of the six-yard box after Georgiou had volleyed Donacien’s cross from the right back across goal.
Almost immediately at the other end, Andrade broke down the right and crossed low towards the unmarked Hesketh, the ball just going behind Wilson who was unable to check his stride. Fortunately for the Blues Hesketh rushed his effort and blazed into the stand.
But the visiting supporters didn’t have to wait too long for a goal. Andrade again broke away down the right, crossed low for Tyler Walker and the son of former England international Des turned into the net at the near post.
Town continued to be frustrated by referee Johnson’s decisions and, as half-time approached with the Blues still to be awarded a freekick for a foul, he official spoke to skipper Huws regarding some of those reactions. On 44 Downes was booked for a foul on Morrell.
The half-time whistle was greeted by boos, more towards referee Johnson than Town, although both had had poor halves.
Aside from a brief spell around the 20-minute mark and Dobra’s later effort against Connolly, the Blues had been poor.
The display was very similar to plenty of those over the course of the last near-decade in the FA Cup with a much-changed side looking disjointed against more settled opposition.
Town, who needed to be much better in the second half if their winless FA Cup run wasn’t to stretch to 15 games, were quickly awarded that first freekick of the afternoon after Downes was fouled by O’Connor.
The Blues began the second half positively, with Dobra moving out to wide right in a 4-3-3 system, and on 49 Kenlock saw a strike blocked. Soon after, Lincoln swapped O’Connor for Ellis Chapman.
But the visitors were next to threaten, Norris rather unconvincingly saving from Hesketh, but Town were starting to look much more threatening,
On 56 Downes saw a shot from the edge of the box saved, then three minutes later the ball broke to Dobra in the area and the youngster found himself space before hitting a shot which was blocked. The ball came out to Downes and his subsequent effort was also blocked.
Lincoln broke straight up the other end and will feel they should have added to their lead but Norris was quickly off his line to save Walker’s strike with his chest.
In the 64th minute Georgiou broke quickly following an Imps corner and fed Huws, whose shot flew well into the Sir Bobby Robson Stand. As Lincoln prepared to take the goalkick Dobra was replaced by Gwion Edwards.
The Blues were beginning to dominate possession with Dozzell increasingly pulling the strings. On 70, a long spell of passing ended with Edwards sending a low ball across from the right but just ahead of Keane with just the merest of touches required to level the scores.
A minute later, Huws burst down the left and sent over a similar ball which again the sliding Keane was unable to reach with the goal gaping.
At the other end, Hesketh saw an effort deflected to Bruno who chested and volleyed, a Town defender diverting wide.
Lincoln should have had the tie settled in the 75th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Nsiala was adjudged to have felled Hesketh. The central defender protested vehemently and frustratedly towards the official - it was his foul that led to Accrington’s penalty last month - but to no avail.
Walker took the kick but sent it too close to Norris, who saved to his right. The ball bounced back to the on-loan Nottingham Forest man but somehow he diverted it well wide of Norris’s goal with it appearing easier to score.
The lucky escape woke the Town crowd and the Blues quickly regained their earlier impetus. And in the 79th minute they equalised.
Kenlock cut in from the left and laid the ball back to Dozzell on the edge of the area from where the England U20 international delicately curled his first goal of the season just beyond Vickers’s outstretched arm.
Town went pushing for a winner, Huws making a strong run down the middle but failing to find Georgiou with his pass, then Downes hit a shot which just flew past the keeper’s right post and hit the stanchion. With six minutes remaining, Town swapped Downes for Danny Rowe, while the Imps replaced Andrade with Harry Anderson.
Kenlock went close with a shot which flew just wide before James Norwood took over from Georgiou.
Lincoln went close to winning it in the 88th minute when Shackell hit a low shot from the edge of the box which Huws and Nsiala managed to divert past the post.
Town were unable to find a winner in five additional minutes with Lincoln going closer when the ball was sent high into the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand after crosse flew across the box from both sides.
At the whistle referee Johnson was booed off by the Town crowd, his decisions having continued to frustrate, not least a late flying challenge on Edwards which went unpunished.
The Blues were much better after the break and had enough chances to have won the match. However, Lincoln will point the missed penalty and one or two other opportunities.
The draw stretches Town’s winless run in the FA Cup to 15 games but with another chance to finally taste victory in the competition in the replay.
The game at Sincil Bank - scene of one of the club's greatest embarassments when they were beaten by the Imps in a replay in January 2017 - which will be on Wednesday 20th November.
Town: Norris, Donacien, Wilson, Nsiala, Kenlock, Huws (c), Downes (Rowe 84), Dozzell, Dobra (Edwards 65), Georgiou (Norwood 86), Keane. Unused: Holy, Judge, El Mizouni, Woolfenden.
Lincoln City: Vickers, Toffolo, O’Connor (Chapman 50), Shackell (c), Payne, Andrade (Anderson 84), Walker, Morrell, Connolly, Eardley, Hesketh (Grant 77). Unused: Smith, Lewis, Melbourne, Akinde. Referee: Kevin Johnson (Weston-super-Mare). Att: 11,598 (Lincoln: 1,190).