Saturday Jan 22, 2011 Norton & Stocton Ancients 0 King's Lynn Town 1 The Linnets produced one of their best performances this season in order to earn a place in the last 16 of the FA Vase. One goal settled this thrilling encounter and a well taken goal from Robbie Harris it was. Perhaps Lynn can look to Alex Street for his first half heroics as the deciding factor this afternoon, but in this current squad of players Lynn possess passion, fight and commitment. It was these factors that saw the away side through a backs to the wall second half, a half that saw The Ancients limited to very few clear cut chances. Yours truly 'enjoyed' a nigh on sleepless night on the eve of this clash. Yes even as I enter middle age I can still get excited about football matches. So we left on the morn' of the game for the short walk to The Walks, me bleary eyed, 'er indoors not much more awake. A rendezvous with 13 other hardy souls awaited, together with a meeting with a minibus that was hard to track down. The transport remained a major doubt for this game until nigh on the final minute and my thoughts turned to the fitness of Luke, Spriggsy and Jack. Departure time was set at 9am, a time that was missed by about 10 minutes. The sky was cloudy and the drizzle fell but I was satisfied that the trip was going to be worthwhile. I was confident that there would be no text message prompting a turn back to Lynn. I was confident that all 3 of the fitness doubts would line up in the blue and gold at 3 o'clock. I was confident of a result come the final whistle later. Confident of at least a draw, hopeful of course for a Lynn victory. The banter flowed as the miles sped by. The minutes sped by as well as I settled down for a long overdue snooze, still excited but knackered. I awoke to the sound of a chopper. Not some advocate of road rage (you just gotta love French coach drivers), but a slowly descending air ambulance attending a crash. "Shall we turn around and find another route" was the call. "No" said I. There was going to be no turnarounds today for me. A twenty minute wait and we were off again. The collision I witnessed was quite a coming together. Whilst hoping nobody was seriously injured in the crash, I knew that the coming together of two sides in fine form would see one of them crash out of the competition for a trip to Wembley. Or I would witness that draw I was confident that the Linnets were capable of earning. The hold up meant just a short stop for comfort and nibbles and an early arrival at Station Road. We had 90 minutes to kill before witnessing a 90 minutes of battle on the field. We trod a muddy path to the club of sustenance. "Cider" was my obvious answer to a welcome question. Torres was the obvious scorer to help 'Pool to a welcome victory on the big screen. A quick chat allayed my fears about my fitness doubts, whilst longer chats were enjoyed with friendly locals who were only to keen to make us feel welcome. The minutes ticked by, 'Pool scored a wonder goal and then we traipsed back over the muddy path. My thoughts briefly returned to Long Buckby, cricket grounds and all that. as we headed towards the ground and a pie. "No", I thought. I had the excitement of that day, but not the anticipation of victory. Today was going to be a case of "We've come all this way and we've won". Hopefully. Money was paid, entrance was gained, pie was ordered and the power was cut. The queue remained and the blown fuse was replaced. The line-ups were recorded. Spriggsy would start on the bench but Luke and Jack had made the starting eleven. Macca would sit beside Bacon whilst Danny would start with Ross. White would start on the right with Kieran in the middle. Could Robbie continue with his goalscoring feats I thought as the teams emerged for a handshake. "Hang on!" thought I. "I've just seen Wolves on the telly!". That was the deciding moment for me as I realised that today wasn't the day for amber and black. My confidence grew as Lynn surged forward straight from the whistle. The attack finished with Doherty looping a header onto the Ancient bar. The home side were trying to play slick passing football whilst the Linnets were trying to play to the strengths of Defty and Harris. High ball, flick on, high ball, flick on. The excellent home right back was keeping Jamie Thurlbourne quiet with his frequent forays into Lynn territory. White was coming to terms with his role out right, whilst Luke and Kieran were battling in the centre. "Come on King's Lynn" was sung by a few. "This side is a real threat" was thought by many as Norton's passing football began to tell. Clarke fired from long range and Street gathered. Street had to touch an angled strike from Earl behind before Bishop wasted a great chance to open the scoring from the resultant corner. The Lynn defence allowed the ball to bounce and he volleyed over. Earl fired again at goal, Street parried and the ball arrived at Gott's feet 20 yards out. He pulled the trigger and "1-0" thought I. But no I thought wrong as Alsop launched himself at the ball and head away when a goal seemed certain. Provett saved low down from Harris after Defty flicked on. But the home side were on top at this stage. Clarke and Earl were enjoying themselves against the Lynn back line and Gott was bossing the midfield. Bishop was a constant threat out wide on the overlap. Earl found himself through one on one with Street but the keeper stood his ground and beat away his shot. But the game remained scoreless as the half hour approched. Despite the home side's dominance they had failed to score. Earl wasted another chance when he again broke through the Lynn defence. This time Street advanced and gathered at his feet. Some expected Norton to be a big team who would muscle us out of the game. The reality was a team made up of players determined to play a passing game. Little wonder they had won their ten previous matches I thought as I saw yet another Ancient chance go to waste. But I remained resolute in my belief that they would be made to pay for their missed chances and Street's efforts would bear fruit. That belief was well founded as it was Lynn who scored as the clock ticked towards thirty minutes played. An Ancient gave the ball away to White, who advanced down the right before crossing to Harris 10 yards out. Harris missed his first effort but recovered to swivel and loop a shot into the top left of the net. The away fans celebrated as Harris saluted his followers. "Robbie Robbie Robbie Goal Goal Goal" was the chant. Fifteen minutes till half time. I thought that there was no way the home side could score twice and deny us the draw I was confident we could earn. Too many wasted chances and after all, this wasn't the day for amber and black. The minutes ticked by and Defty headed a yard wide, Street held Gott's twenty yard free kick and White fired over. Just before half time a Luke Thurlbourne special flew inches over and we were denied some more acrobatics. The referee blew for half time. Against the run of play the Linnets were in front. Could we hold on? Yes I thought. Half time: Norton 0-1 King's Lynn Total playing time: 46:49 The mood was bouyant during the interval. The Linnets had played well first half and had rode their luck. But one thing was for sure, Street had kept us in it with a fine goalkeeping display. The Ancients took the field for the second half to silence, Lynn to a round of applause and lots of cheers of encouragement. Lynn had travelled in numbers yet again. As the second half wore on, it was clear that Lynn were happy to afford their opponents plenty of possession. Spriggs was introduced for Doherty on the hour mark to provide an attacking outlet. The Lynn goal remained intact however as the Lynn defence ably coped with any threat. Harris showed a great piece of skill when he seemed penned in out on the right as Lynn made a rare foray forward. He lifted the ball over his head and two defenders, ran on and fired goalwards from an acute angle. Provett parried the shot to safety. Then Lynn started to defend deeper and deeper as Ancients pressed for an equaliser. The reality was that the home side were creating few chances of note and Harris made way for Bacon to provide more height in defensive situations. N.Mulligan headed wide on 70 minutes from a corner. Corners that by now were being defended by all 11 Linnets with no outlet up front when the ball was cleared. This led to almost constant pressure but there was still no way through for the home side. Lynn almost doubled their lead when Bacon flicked on for Spriggs to run on and shoot just wide 20 minutes from time. Those last 20 minutes were backs to the wall for Lynn as they blunted wave after wave of Norton attacks. Despite a reshuffle of their forward line they were limited to long range efforts and never really tested Street any further. It was a time for heroes and heroes emerged. Watson stood tall and unbreakable, Alsop looked broken but played on, Buhlemann remained calm and Defty headed away. "Come on King's Lynn, Come on King's Lynn" reverberated around the ground as the away fans counted down the minutes till full time. Three minutes of added time signalled the fourth official. Four minutes was played and the referee blew for full time. Full time: Norton 0-1 King's Lynn Total playing time: 49:01 Setchell punched the air and the Linnets shook hands with their worthy opponents. The Lynn fans left the ground singing that Wem-ber-lee song. So it was back to the minibus. Happy smiling faces all around and a home draw on minds. Beeping and tooting along the roads out of Teesside. Burgers eaten at Blyth, muffins eaten on the bus. Cheers for the Lynn players as they arrived and we departed. Banter for Boony, a smile from Boony. Job done. For me, hope won out over confidence. I now hope for a home draw and a sleep filled night. King's Lynn: Street, Bexfield, Alsop, L. Thurlbourne, Watson, Buhlemann, White, Doherty (Spriggs 60), Defty, Harris (Bacon 67), J. Thurlbourne. Subs not used: McNeil, Moreira, Hails. Norton & Stockton: Provett, Furness, Bishop (Brown 73), Baker, Gaston, Alderson, Huggins, Gott, Clarke, Owens (N. Mulligan 60), Earl (Richards 73). Subs not used: D. Mulligan, Lawson. Goal: Harris 29. Att: 249 Kings Lynn Town Res. 1 Thrapston Town Res 0 In the early stages, it was the visitors who were on top, playing some good football which tested the home defence. The Lynn rearguard were equal to the test and gradually the Linnets started to get into the game as an attacking force. After 28 minutes, Ryan Fryatt played a through ball to Tom Barnes who beat his marker, only to be fouled by the Thrapston defender. Gino Livoti sent the visitor's keeper the wrong way from the resulting 'spot' kick. Lynn had chances to increase their lead before the interval. Livoti had a header well saved and another good move saw Duarte shoot into the side netting. Lynn pressed at the start of the second half. A Cairan Beales effort saw the 'keeper beaten, but a full back cleared off the line. Lynn came close on numerous occasions in the next twenty minutes to getting a second goal, but again desparate defending kept them out. Thrapston relieved the pressure and Jack Johnson twice saved from Andrew Dobbs. Lynn's normally slick passing game was not at it's best today, but in the end they ground out a 1-0 victory to gain three vital points in the quest for the League title. Team: Johnson, Sturman, McLeish, Fryatt, J.Spittlehouse, K.White, Livoti, Minns (Rawlings), Barnes, Beales (Foster), Duarte (Reeve). N.u: Biles, Paterson.