No Walk in the Park

By: Andrew Doherty
Date: 18/04/2022

TO the relief of many, I can't dredge up a single story about King's Lynn FC. This is not a team I have ever seen, or many of us have seen, unless you were at the 0-0 draw at Blundell Park earlier in the season. With relegation threatening, you might hope that the Linnets would be looking for three points and opening up the game for either side to

This didn't help much at Weymouth last week, so it was to be hoped that Town would put in a more coordinated performance today. And then after a nervous start came the great victory on Saturday against the league's best side. It's Jekyll and Hyde stuff but we're still in the mix.

After a pleasant walk through the park, it was time for the hotbed of the away end at King's Lynn's stadium, appropriately named The Walks. Today's team of rags or hopefully riches was: Crocombe - Cropper, Waterfall, Smith, Amos - Maguire-Drew, Clifton, Fox, Wright - McAtee - Dieseruvwe. It's fair to say that this wasn't a predictable line-up, especially the inclusion of Wright after so much absence through injury. Town wore red today and attacked the deserted home end for the first half.

The start was marked by physical play by both sides. First it was Kings Lynn who muscled their way through, leading to Omatayo supplying Sundire who shot just wide. Dieseruvwe then won a physical battle, finding McAtee whose shot crashed off the crossbar but offside was given. Widdrington was then lucky to get away with only a booking for a terrible tackle on Clifton. Maguire-Drew's free kick was poor. The raucous and abundant Town support quietened momentarily as Town struggled to gain control. Town had a chance on 15 minutes when a Clifton through ball found Dieseruvwe but the Kings Lynn goalkeeper Jones did well to get out and block the shot. Clifton did well to block a shot from Barrows. On 20 minutes McAtee left the field with what looked like a wrist injury after a fall and was replaced immediately by Abrahams. On 24 minutes Kings Lynn won a corner after the ball appeared to go out for a throw to Town. Barrett crossed. The ball came out and Barrett's curler went wide. Town looked rushed as Kings Lynn dictated play. Dieseruvwe won a corner after good hustling. Maguire-Drew got the ball in at the second attempt but Wright's cross was to no-one. 30 minutes had gone when good work by Smith resulted in Maguire-Drew sending a through ball to Abrahams whose shot was saved. Dieseruvwe picked up the rebound but the shot was cleared off the line. On 34 minutes the impressive Smith stopped a counterattack. Fox ran up the left and won a corner. Cue a goalmouth scramble which ended with a Cropper shot over the bar. Kings Lynn attacked. Selfless Waterfall bravery repelled the wonderfully named Gold Omotayo and led to an injury stoppage. It was Silver for the gargantuan OmatYo on this occasion. On 38 minutes a shocking mistake by Clifton brought about a Kings Lynn attack which ended with a poor cross from the right. Waterfall then was forced to block a volley from Barrett. Sundire was fouled on the edge of the box before a Fox and Clifton mix up allowed Barrett another shot which landed just wide. Town weren't controlling the midfield, but decent work from Maguire-Drew and Dieseruvwe up front and Waterfall and Smith at the back meant that Town were in the game. As time was added at the end of the first half, Amos had a shot which came back off the post to Maguire-Drew. Instead of shooting straightaway, Maguire-Drew weighed up his options, cut inside and looked to have lost the opportunity, but found Abrahams who slotted home from close range. Kings Lynn 0, Town 1. Seconds later Town should have scored again when Maguire-Drew provided an incisive pass but Dieseruvwe's shot was somehow blocked. So 1 - 0 to Town at half time when it had looked like poor control was going to lead to a scoreless half.

Town went on the attack for the initial period of the second half but lacked threat after poor delivery by Maguire-Drew following a foul on Wright and a pair of corners. The game lacked quality at both ends of the pitch. On 63 minutes Clifton was booked for a foul as Kings Lynn counter-attacked following a mistake. Both teams seemed to be trying to outdo each other in the errors department. Town's fans were getting restless. Good work by Dieseruvwe earned Town a throw on 67 minutes before Wright showed good pace, beating the defender and crossing, forcing the defender to shrug off Dieseruvwe. This was Wright's last act as Scannell came on. Immediately a great move on the right saw Cropper find Abrahams who laid the ball off for Dieseruvwe. Jones was there to deflect Dieseruvwe's effort. This was a clear chance. Maguire-Drew's corner found Waterfall - off the line. A second corner from Maguire-Drew found Dieseruvwe's head, but the downward header was wide. Town were on top now. On 74 minutes a move between Abrahams and Scannell led to a shot by Maguire-Drew. Another Dieseruvwe header then evaded the goal after a Cropper cross. A nice through ball from Dieseruvwe found Scannell clear through the middle but the shot was sliced wide. On 80 minutes a brilliant run through the defence by Scannell almost paid off as Town totally dominated play. Town's next failure to convert came when Scannell brought the ball out of defence, laying off a great ball to Clifton who inexplicably failed to shoot, instead laying off a woeful pass behind Dieseruvwe who had no chance. Town's fans expressed their frustration at Dieseruvwe moments later after Maguire-Drew won the ball in midfield and set up the chance, but Dieseruvwe was unable to beat Jones in spite of being one on one. Town laboured but the threat from Kings Lynn was non-existent. Had Town's finishing been better, this would have been a sizeable victory. Kings Lynn won via corner on 90 minutes after Smith shook off Omotayo, but summing up Kings Lynn's performance and possibly relegation-bound season, the corner was poor. So the game ended: Kings Lynn 0, Town 1.

Town made heavy weather of this victory but did deserve it after a second half bombardment. Our experimental side showed greater quality than Kings Lynn although that wasn't saying much at times. There was a gulf amongst Town's players between the influential and the mediocre, the former including Maguire-Drew who swung between the two, Smith, Waterfall and Scannell. Midfield was a problem area today and the finishing was poor. But we're one step closer and although it was needlessly tense and frustrating, the walk back through the park was all the more pleasant after this win.

Add To Facebook

This site is by the fans, for the fans, and we will consider articles on any subject relating to the Mariners whether it be related to current news, a nostalgic look back in the past, a story about a player, a game or games in the past, something about Blundell Park or football in general. Click here to submit your article!

Related Stories

• Town Beat Leaders Stockport
• A Comedy of Errors
• Springtime in Chesterfield
• More Stories