Hereford United had only themselves to blame after losing at ten-man Lincoln City.
United wasted a string of easy chances in each half and paid the penalty, as the spirited Lincoln team battled away despite playing a man short for the last hour.
Hereford should have been ahead after only six minutes when a free-kick from Trent McClenahan found John McCombe unmarked inside the six-yard box, but the big centre-back saw his shot saved by Lincoln keeper Alan Marriott.
A minute later the Lincoln defence failed to deal with a free-kick from Clint Easton, but both Dean Beckwith and Gary Hooper failed to finish.
Hereford kept pushing forward and Marriott was forced into a point-blank save to keep out a shot from Hooper.
Referee David Foster was forced to switch to an orange ball amid driving snow in the first half and then attracted the anger of the home fans when he showed a straight red card to Lincoln midfielder Scott Kerr for a 30th-minute foul on Easton.
Hereford failed to make anything from the free-kick and instead were caught out by a Lincoln breakaway.Dany N'Guessan won the ball on the halfway line and, after outpacing the United defence, finished with a left-foot shot into the bottom corner for a classic solo goal.
Hereford continued to create chances, but Hooper missed an easy opening and Richard Rose was unlucky when his deflected shot was saved by Marriott.
McClenahan, Simon Johnson and Ben Smith all wasted chances before Hereford finally levelled in the 62nd minute. Lincoln lost the ball on the edge of their own box and Theo Robinson set up Hooper for an easy goal.
Lincoln defended against increasing pressure but broke out in the 83rd minute to win a penalty, when Easton fouled Ben Wright as the striker was about to shoot.
Referee Foster awarded the spot-kick, which was despatched into the net by N'Guessan for the winner.
Hereford's Robinson missed two more chances in the final seconds, but Lincoln almost got a third goal deep into stoppage time when Lenell John-Lewis forced his way into the box and beat Hereford keeper Wayne Brown with a left-foot shot, only to see his effort come back off the bar.