Dartford suffered a narrow defeat at 10-man Lincoln City on a day when they fell further off the pace in the Vanarama Conference Premier relegation fight.

The only goal of the game came midway through the first half when a fine cross from Sean Newton was headed home by Tom Miller past Darts keeper Jason Brown.

Tony Burman’s side almost found an immediate response but Lee Noble’s diving header rattled the bar.

Noble was at the centre of the game’s other major talking point as it was after an altercation with Noble on 66 minutes that the Imps saw forward Delano Sam-Yorke dismissed for an apparent hand in the face of the Dartford man.

Noble also came close to an equaliser with a stinging volley late-on, only for keeper Alan Farman to make a good save.

Elsewhere there were wins for struggling Altrincham, aswell as Southport and Welling who both overtake the Darts who slip to 21 and in the final relegation place – though three points clear of the bottom three sides who all lost on Saturday.