BACK in the spring of 2024, Doncaster Rovers followers joyously sang about their team winning ten in a row.

Should the present-day side fail to triumph in their next league game at Stevenage, then the ten against Rovers’ name will be an imperfect ten and not something to be shouted from the rooftops.

Mercifully, it wouldn’t constitute a tenth successive defeat. But the sight of their run of league games without victory extending into double digits would be bad enough. Grant McCann’s side are on the precipice of that grim statistic.

Winless streaks moving into double figures is serious territory for most managers. McCann has credit in the bank - Rovers 1,693-strong support sang his name intermittently at Sincil Bank - and it’s just as well.

Lincoln City's Francis Okoronkwo (second from right) scores their side's first goal of the game during the Sky Bet League One match against Doncaster Rovers at the LNER Stadium. Photo: Nigel French/PA Wire.

placeholder image — Lincoln City's Francis Okoronkwo (second from right) scores their side's first goal of the game during the Sky Bet League One match against Doncaster Rovers at the LNER Stadium. Photo: Nigel French/PA Wire.

If there was a league table for quality of play between both boxes, then Doncaster would figure prominently. Of course, there is no such utopia.

Rovers are currently deficient at both business ends of the pitch. They don’t score enough bog-standard goals at one end and concede too many scruffy goals at the other.

It’s not a healthy mix and explains why they are too close to the bottom four for comfort. A nice side who can score nice goals at times, but one who aren’t nasty enough.

Rovers’ goal when it did arrive was technically exquisite. A gem of a throughball from Luke Molyneux - the sight of him with his mojo back again was a welcome sight at least - got the finish it deserved from Brandon Hanlan.

Lincoln City's Ben House (centre) fires in a shot which was saved by Doncaster Rovers' keeper Thimothee Lo-Tulata and deflected into the net off Robbie Gotts during the Sky Bet League One match at the LNER Stadium. Photo: Nigel French/PA Wire.

Hanlan’s first touch and steered finish was perfection and followed a similarly elegant midweek strike.

That his Rovers career looks to finally be off and running at long last is something and alongside the brio of Molyneux, it was the most illuminating facet on a dank day in the cathedral city. Within a minute of Hanlan's 70th-minute leveller, Rovers conceded a painful own goal.

Afterwards, McCann didn’t have too much sympathy for his players. His reference that January was also not too far away was a pointed one.

Rovers put together one or two pretty first-half moves - and were left to rue a goalline clearance from Sonny Bradley to deny Billy Sharp and atone for his initial error after selling Imps keeper George Wiekens short with an errant pass.

But the side who possessed the killer tactic and were the most threatening were Lincoln, who peppered Rovers’ backline with high diagonal balls.

A very slight push from ex-loanee Rob Street on James Maxwell prevented him from dining out at his old club’s expense when he powerfully headed in Adam Reach’s cross. He is the sort of player Rovers lack.

Another textbook header brought Lincoln their breakthrough, with Rovers again being guilty of not heeding a warning.

Another big lad in Frankie Okoronkwo had already shown his aerial prowess in nodding wide. Second time around, he guided a super header past Thimothee Lo-Tulata after getting in between Conor O’Riordan and Matty Pearson.

That didn’t please McCann and neither did the space afforded to Tendayi Darikwa to get his cross in from the right. Quality operators like Lincoln’s captain will always expose such negligence.

Down their own right-hand side, Rovers could count on Molyneux.

He served notice with a cracking second-half drive which was pawed away by Wiekens before showing his class to set up Hanlan. Like Okoronkwo, Hanlan put gloss on a breakthrough week which saw him score in the Trophy by netting his first league goal for his club.

That said, how Okoronkwo did not celebrate his second Imps goal before Hanlan’s effort is anyone’s guess.

His miss after being teed up by Bradley when Rovers offside trap went kaput was appalling. Instead of tucking the ball into the back of the empty net, he hit the back of a steward.

The next ghastly moment was a Rovers one. That it happened immediately after their leveller sums up the way things are going.

A long throw from Tom Hamer caused chaos with Lo-Tulata saving Ben House’s close-range effort, only for the ball to ricochet into the net off the unwitting Robbie Gotts, an ex-Lincoln loanee.

A Hamer House of horrors for Rovers and a belated gift for Imps chief and former Leeds United coach Michael Skubala following his second anniversary in charge.

Chances at the death were spurned by Owen Bailey and O’Riordan. A usually happy hunting ground for Rovers suddenly became unhappy. Lincoln moved second as Rovers dropped to 19th.

Lincoln City: Wickens; Darikwa, Hamer, Bradley, Reach; McGrandles, Bayliss; Street (Jefferies 79), Draper (Towler 75), Okoronkwo (Obikwu 68); Collins (House 68). Substitutes unused: Jeacock, Jackson, Ring.

Doncaster Rovers: Lo-Tutala; Sterry (Nixon 79), Pearson (McGrath 79), O’Riordan, Maxwell; Bailey, Broadbent; Molyneux, Clifton (Gotts 66), Gibson (Middleton 80); Sharp (Hanlan 58). Substitutes unused: Lawlor, Close.

Referee: D Rock (Herts).