BURY will feel hard done by as they were reduced to 10 men before Lincoln City came from behind to claim a late winner.

The hosts went into the game unbeaten but Eoghan O'Connell scored for the second Tuesday running to give the Shakers a deserved lead on 31 minutes.

The Imps improved after the interval but it took a penalty decision to bring them level on 75 minutes.

Will Aimson was shown a straight red card for handball and Lincoln substitute John Akinde converted the spot-kick.

Lee Frecklington then pounced on 82 minutes to deny Bury even a point from a game they controlled for long periods.

Manager Ryan Lowe had made two changes to the side which drew 1-1 with Forest Green on Saturday, with Stephen Dawson and Chris Dagnall coming in for Jay O'Shea and Dominic Telford.

And Danny Mayor, playing behind the front two, got into some dangerous positions in the first half, with one run resulting in Dawson firing just wide.

Gold Omotayo was struggling to hold the ball up, earning himself an ear-bashing from Lowe, but the Swiss striker did send a 12th-minute shot just over.

The hosts then managed a brief spell of pressure as Harry Toffolo hit a free kick which was probably going too high but Joe Murphy was not taking any chances and tipped it over.

Bruno Andrade's corner was headed goalwards by centre-half Jason Shackell and this time it definitely needed Murphy's intervention, with the Irish keeper pulling off a fine save to turn it over.

But Bury were soon back on top, with Mayor twisting and turning before seeing a 25-yard shot deflected over.

Nicky Adams' corner was met with a downwards header by Adam Thompson, which was cleared off the line by the man on the near post.

The clearance came out to Adams, whose 20-yard effort was deflected over for another corner. And Lincoln again failed to deal with Adams' delivery as the ball fell kindly for O'Connell to stab in from six yards.

Bury remained in charge until the break, silencing what had been a buoyant home crowd in the early stages.

But the Imps roused their fans by getting straight on the front foot after the interval, with headers by Harry Anderson and Matt Rhead keeping Murphy alert.

The Shakers almost doubled their lead as Neil Danns made a superb run down the right before cutting back for Omotayo, whose close-range effort was deflected just wide.

Omotayo went close again shortly after but Murphy had to turn wide a Shay McCartan header before the ex-Accrington striker saw a low strike deflected wide.

Andrade's fierce strike was then blocked by one of the three Bury players that attempted to block it.

The referee deemed it was stopped by Aimson's arm – and it was deliberate – as he sent him off, with the Bury defender shaking his head as he left the field.

Akinde coolly rolled in a trademark spot-kick before Andrade latched onto a long ball to nudge it past Murphy.

Two covering defenders challenged Andrade but the loose ball ran for Frecklington, who finished off to clinch all three points for the high-flying Imps to break Shakers hearts.