Luke Garbutt hit a trademark freekick but the Blues are 2-1 down at Lincoln at half-time. The Imps went in front via Harry Anderson on six, Garbutt curled in an equaliser in the 32nd minute but Tyler Walker restored the Imps’ lead in injury time.
Town boss Paul Lambert made three changes from the team which drew 0-0 with Gillingham on Boxing Day with Andre Dozzell and Flynn Downes returning to the midfield and skipper Luke Chambers at the back.
The Blues, playing their final game of the decade, again lined-up in a 4-4-2 system with Chambers - returning from his one-match ban - alongside Luke Woolfenden at the heart of the defence and Garbutt and Janoi Donacien the full-backs. Will Norris continued in goal.
Dozzell and Downes were in the centre of midfield with Gwion Edwards on the right and Alan Judge on the left with James Norwood and Kayden Jackson up front.
Cole Skuse and Jon Nolan were missing from the squad having not travelled after suffering minor knocks on Boxing Day, while Toto Nsiala was also left out of the 18 having started the Gillingham match.
Lincoln, who were unchanged from their 1-0 Boxing Day defeat at Oxford, included former Town loanee Callum Connolly among their subs.
Imps defender Michael O’Connor headed a freekick from the left straight at Norris in the fifth minute after a scruffy opening spell.
And a minute later, the home side went in front. Jake Hesketh broke towards the area and played a clever reverse pass into the path of Harry Anderson, who took it on and hit a shot across Norris and into the corner of the net.
The Blues, who again had made a slow start, looked to get back into it and on 10, after Edwards had picked up a loose ball midway inside the Lincoln half, Norwood saw a shot blocked by Neal Eardley, then Garbutt blazed over.
A minute later Downes scuffed wide from the edge of the box after breaking through a crowd of players as the Blues showed signs of getting into some rhythm.
Town claimed a penalty in the 14th minute when Jackson beat Josh Vickers to the ball on the byline and appeared to be upended by the keeper. Jackson was adamant he had been fouled but referee James Oldham and his assistant weren’t interested and the Blues were awarded a corner.
Two minutes later, Imps midfielder Joe Morrell, who was born in Ipswich, struck a shot from the edge of the box which Norris gathered at the second attempt.
The Blues were getting on top and having most of the ball but without creating a clear-cut opportunity, while Lincoln were presenting a greater danger on the break.
As the game reached the half-hour mark Town began to build up a head of steam, Downes hitting a shot which was deflected wide from the edge of the box. From the corner, Chambers nodded it back across goal to Edwards, whose header was unconvincingly punched away by Vickers.
A Blues equaliser was looking more and more on the cards and in the 32nd minute it came. Dozzell, who after a quiet start was increasingly involved, was fouled 25 yards out just to the right. Garbutt took the freekick and brilliantly curled it into the bottom left corner of Vickers’s net giving the keeper no chance.
It was the on-loan Everton man’s sixth goal of the season and a freekick every bit as good as his similar set-piece strike against Tranmere earlier in the season.
Lincoln came back into the game following the Town leveller but without seriously threatening before the Blues were forced into a change. Donacien had undergone treatment on a knee problem earlier in the half and was clearly being hampered by the knock. On 41 the St Lucia-born full-back made way with Sears taking over on the right of midfield with Edwards going to right-back.
Within two minutes, Edwards was booked after Jorge Grant went to ground after very little if any contact as he looked to turn away from the Welshman.
From the freekick, the home side went very close to going back in front. The ball was eventually played to Grant, who crossed from the left to Anderson who stabbed off the outside of the near post from a few feet out.
But the Imps support didn’t have to wait too much longer for a second goal. With the game in injury time, a long ball sent Tyler Walker away on his own in the Town half from where he looped the ball over Norris who had advanced well out of his goal and under the bar.
There was no time for the Blues to hit back before referee Oldham brought the half to a close.
Town had again started slowly and found themselves behind before they had got going. However, they subsequently got themselves on top and deserved their goal when it came.
But they allowed the impetus to swing back to the Imps in the final minutes of the half and conceded another poor goal from a defensive perspective.
Town will need a big second half if their winless League One run isn’t to extend to seven matches.
Lincoln: Vickers, Toffolo, Bolger, Bostwick, Eardley (c), Morrell, O’Connor, Anderson, Hesketh, Grant, Walker. Subs: Smith, Payne, Chapman, Connolly, Melbourne, Lewis, Akinde.
Town: Norris, Donacien (Sears 41), Woolfenden, Chambers (c), Garbutt, Dozzell, Downes, Edwards, Judge, Norwood, Jackson. Subs: Holy, Wilson, El Mizouni, Kenlock, Huws, Keane. Referee: James Oldham (Derbyshire).