The manner of the defeat will leave Roddy Collins and the supporters wondering what went wrong after their impressive display in winning at Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

The reality was Lincoln were by far the better side, winning every battle in all areas of the pitch, Carlisle were simply second best.

Collins was so incensed by the poor first-half showing that the players' half-time break lasted a mere two minutes, before they were thrown back out into the cold from the warmth of the dressing room.

It was a measure that had little effect as the Cumbrians continued in the same vein, giving Lincoln the most comfortable of wins.

"I can't believe what happened," said Collins. "We were so lethargic it was frightening.

"There was so much wrong there was no way of changing it, I could have changed six players in the first 20 minutes. For the supporters who paid, we didn't give them enough effort."

Lincoln opened the scoring with only six minutes gone. Lee Maddison lost possession on the left to allow space for Paul Smith to pick out Chris Ward, who headed into the top corner from 12 yards.

The nearest the home side got to pulling a goal back was a 30th-minute Peter Murphy free-kick which was comfortably saved by Alan Marriott.

The Imps deservedly extended their lead on 34 minutes when Peter Gain found Scott Willis and the midfielder had the space to curl a wonderful goal into the top corner.

Mark Bailey then slid onto a Stuart Bimson free kick to fire narrowly wide as Carlisle struggled to make any impact.

Lincoln were unlucky not to extend their lead on 65 minutes when Smith’s lay back was met by a blistering Bailey shot which blasted the side netting.

The inevitable third goal came two minutes later when Gain showed great skill to turn Foran and Summerbell, 25 yards out, before smashing in a shot off the underside of the bar.

Four minutes later, the rout was completed in farcical fashion to adequately sum up the Cumbrians evening. Peter Murphy's back pass took an awkward bounce and Glennon missed his kick, allowing Smith to pounce to force the ball home.

Craig Farrell did pull a goal back in injury time , sweeping home Craig Russell’s cross, but it was more than Carlisle deserved in a forgettable performance.