Whitehawk booked their place in the second round of the FA Cup for the first time after beating Lincoln City 5-3 at the Enclosed Ground.

Hawks raced into a 2-0 lead after 27 minutes thanks to goals from prolific strike pair Danny Mills and Jake Robinson.

Matt Rhead pulled one back from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time after Mills had tangled with Lincoln’s burly striker in the box.

Sam Deering restored Whitehawk’s two-goal lead just before the hour only for Rhead to halve the deficit again in the 64th minute.

The impressive Dave Martin appeared to have settled the match when he made it 4-2 three minutes from the end but Rhead ensured a nervous finale when he completed his hat-trick in the first minute of added time.

There was still a twist in an extraordinary game with Lincoln skipper Alan Power sent off for bringing down Deering in the box with the Hawks winger getting up to convert from the spot.

Hawks got off to a dream start as they took the lead inside six minutes. Lincoln gave Sam Deering far too much time and space to deliver a cross which Mills headed home at the far post.

Mills nearly doubled the advantage after 15 minutes when he headed against the bar following a scintillating run from Dave Martin down the left.

The second goal did come in the 26th minute as Hawks caught Lincoln out on the counter attack again.

Craig Ross made a fine low save to deny Matt Rhead and from the resulting corner the home side burst forward with Robinson cutting in from the left to fire home a low shot inside the near post Lincoln had posed a threat from set-pieces all through the first half and got back into the game via a free kick in injury time.

Rhead went down in the area as he tangled with Mills while waiting for a Hawkridge delivery and referee Constantine Hatzidakis pointed to the spot.

Rhead made no mistake from the penalty to score his 12th of the season with Hatzidakis confronted by Hawks boss Steven King after blowing for half-time.

Hawks restored their two-goal lead 14 minutes into the second half when Deering cut in from the right to curl a left-footed shot inside the far post.

Martin nearly made it 4-1 when his dink over the onrushing keeper came back off the bar but Lincoln went straight up the other end to make it 3-2.

Hawks failed to deal with a long throw from Chris Bush and the ball fell nicely to Rhead at the far post to drill home from close range.

The game looked to have been settled when Deering went on a mazy run into the area and when he effort was blocked on the line Martin was on hand to stab home.

Hearn refused to surrender though as he headed home after a scramble in the area to make it 4-3 in injury time.

Hawks could start to celebrate in the 96th minute when Deering was pulled back by Power in the area and then scored from the spot – with Power being shown red.