Veteran striker James Collins scored twice as Lincoln effectively ended Bolton’s League One play-off hopes with a 4-2 win at the LNER Arena.

Erik Ring and Reeco Hackett – the latter with an ingenious free-kick – also scored for the Imps, with Jay Matete and Alex Murphy on target for Bolton, who suffered a fourth successive defeat.

City took the lead after 10 minutes when a corner routine was played short, with Erik Ring’s cross evading everyone and bouncing into the far corner of Nathan Baxter’s net.

Ben House’s flick from Sean Roughan’s cross was saved by Baxter, before Collins made it 2-0 after 17 minutes, smashing a penalty high into the roof of the net after Ethan Erhahon had been taken out by David Abimbola in the box.

Bolton reduced the deficit out of nowhere after 28 minutes, with Matete striking low and hard past George Wickens from 20 yards.

Murphy levelled nine minutes later meeting Josh Dacres-Cogley’s cross, with a header that seemed to take a deflection off Abimbola before beating Wickens.

The Imps went back in front when Collins grabbed his second, heading Roughan’s superb cross past Baxter after 53 minutes.

Hackett put City 4-2 up after an hour, direct from a fantastic free-kick 30 yards out.  Lining up to cross the ball, he spotted Baxter stood near the far post, so curled a low shot towards the near post, which hit the woodwork and bounced over the line past the failing keeper.

Wickens then brilliantly kept out George Thomason’s header to preserve City’s two-goal lead, before the visitors ended the game with 10 men after Dacres-Cogley was sent off in stoppage-time.