LINCOLN produced a night of derring-do, as their manager John Beck had promised, but the third division side finally had to concede second-best to increasingly redoubtable opponents.

Many Premiership sides might have foundered last night against Lincoln's direct style but Southampton, after equalising only 15 minutes from time through Jim Magilton's penalty, then confirmed their superiority with two further goals.

They took the lead five minutes from time when Gordon Watson, a substitute for Matthew Le Tissier, scored from Eyal Berkovic's right-wing cross, before the Israeli added a third in the last minute.

You have to hand it to Beck; wherever his managerial career takes him in the lower divisions, he and his sides cause a stir. Lincoln had done precisely that in a 4-1 win against Manchester City in the previous round at Sincil Bank, and they began as if convinced of a repeat.

For 20 minutes Southampton barely grabbed a breath as Lincoln careered forward on a cold, blustery night. The Division Three side went ahead after nine minutes from a familiar ploy. Terry Fleming's long throw was aimed, as always, towards Gijsbert Bos at the near post and although Chris Woods palmed away the flick, Gareth Ainsworth prodded the ball in at the far post.

Woods, back in his native Lincolnshire, then tipped over Bos's header from Jon Whitney's deep left-wing cross, took a buffeting from Ainsworth as Fleming launched another bomb, and added to his bruises by saving courageously at Bos's feet.

Southampton's quality became more evident as the half progressed, Egil Ostenstadt and Berkovic drawing saves from Barry Richardson and Jason Dodd shooting high from 20 yards. But the most galling miss came from Le Tissier, who wasted an indirect free-kick from nine yards after Richardson had been penalised for picking up a back-pass.

Le Tssier almost redressed matters just before the hour with a clinical, curling free-kick from 30 yards which seemed to be squeezing into Richardson's top left-hand corner until the goalkeeper produced another outstanding save.

But Lincoln had already underlined that, if composure had long since deserted them, the freakish remained well within their capabilities. Fleming's punt forward fell fortuitously for Ainsworth but his snatched volley flew high.