Mendes Watch 1

Notts striker Junior Mendes gave a sharp display on his debut for Lincoln. He looked eager to impress, playing a leading role in the Imp's 1-0 win over Barnet.

Straight from the off, Mendes got himself in good positions and

Mendes...In fine form for Imps

used the ball well, playing some clever passes to open up the Bee's defence.

Early on, the Magpie's forward showed his role as a creator. After just 12 minutes, he brought down a long ball from the back, held the ball up neatly then sprayed a 30 yard cross field ball to Ryan Amoo, whose cross picked out Lee Frecklington. His poor touch let the chance go begging. The Imps should have been up.

Two minutes later, Mendes picked up the ball wide right, a neat turn opened things up before a simple square pass put in fellow strike partner Dany N'Guessan, who could only slice it wide. Another chance gone without punishment.

Mendes' best contribution to the first half came in the 23^rd minute. The 30-year-old appeared to be chasing a lost cause as he tracked down defender Simon King. Mendes managed to wrestle himself round the defender but his one-on-one effort was pushed away at the near post by opposition keeper Ross Flitney.

Mendes was disappointed not to get himself on the score sheet on his debut. "I chased the guy down, I got into the box, he was pulling at my back a little bit, I went for the near post but the keeper saved well…It would have been a great debut".

In a dominant first half display by Lincoln, Mendes paired up well with N'Guessan and looked a real class act on the ball.

Into the second half, City took an early lead with a wonder left foot strike into the top corner from Imp's midfielder Frecklington.

Mendes was consistently looking to find the wide areas, making countless accurate passes to Amoo, who moved to the left-hand side after the break.

In the 64^th minute, N'Guessan was withdrawn to leave Mendes partnered with Forest loan man Spencer Weir-Daley up top. The partnership offered different qualities of the Notts man. While the fresh legs of Weir-Daley were springing around the park, it left Junior to find more space to create the killer second goal.

The substitution began a frustrating spell for Mendes who on countless occasions was left chasing poor balls behind Barnet's back four. He kept chasing nonetheless and looked desperate to open his Lincoln account. Unfortunately it never came for Mendes.

As the game entered its last ten minutes Mendes dropped deep again as his experience shined through to secure all three points. Backing in well to defenders and holding the ball up a treat, the final minutes soon ticked down. In stoppage time Mendes endeavoured to find the corners as well as drooping back to help

Schofield...Impressed with Notts man