Michael Appleton praised promotion-chasing Lincoln after a 2-0 win at Rochdale moved them to within two points of League One leaders Hull.

With the Tigers held to a draw at struggling Oxford, the Imps were quick to take advantage with victory at Dale in a game Appleton felt they dominated from start to finish.

Goals either side of the interval from James Jones and Lewis Montsma earned the three points and Dale were fortunate to keep the scoreline respectable.

“It’s always nice to win away from home but I just thought we dominated this one from about the fifth minute and I was so pleased with the way we played in the second half because sometimes when you go a goal ahead you can take your foot off the gas a little bit,” said Appleton.

“But I thought we were really aggressive in our approach, trying to win the ball back and play as high up the pitch as we could.

“We got the second goal and looked like scoring three or four. I thought we were in control even when we didn’t have the ball, we were allowing them to pass it in areas we wanted them in – we were the ones in complete control and Alex Palmer didn’t have a save to make.”

Dale went close to opening the scoring early on when Aaron Morley saw his shot cleared off the line by Montsma, and after an evenly contested half hour, Lincoln emerged the dominant force.

Tom Hopper fired narrowly wide in the 34th minute and four minutes later the striker dummied Tayo Edun’s cross for Jones to sweep home the opening goal.

Lincoln slipped up a gear after the break with Brennan Johnson and Max Melbourne testing Jay Lynch in the Dale goal.

In between those efforts, Montsma let fly with a shot from distance that bounced awkwardly in front of the goalkeeper and found the net for the visitors’ second.

Stephen Humphrys went close for the home side with an angled drive but Alex Palmer saved with his legs.

“We were playing against an opponent who, once they got in front, were pretty clinical and as the second half progressed and they got that second goal it became a difficult game for us,” admitted Dale boss Brian Barry-Murphy.

“Up until they scored the first goal I felt we were in an evenly matched tie and I was very excited by the performance. But it didn’t materialise once we went behind.

“They didn’t give us an inch in front of goal and they were pretty clinical in their attacking play and the way they kept the ball and I thought they defended well.

“I thought the defining part of the game was at 0-0 as we battled for supremacy – neither team had a chance until they scored the first goal and that was always going to be critical.”