King's Lynn 1 Chippenham Town 3
1st May 2006
The Linnets' dreams of Conference football were
shattered at the first playoff hurdle by Chippenham
yesterday.
Despite home advantage, boss Tommy Taylor's side were second best in most departments in a game which saw defender Grant Cooper sent off for two yellow cards.
Cooper's early bath had little effect on the final outcome, with the Wiltshire side holding onto a lead 3-1 and thus reversing the result of the league encounter at The Walks in February.
To make matters worse, a large group of police and stewards dashed under the players' tunnel to deal with an unsavoury incident near the dressing-room after the final whistle.
Taylor rang the changes for the crunch clash.
The fit-again Cooper replaced Danny Hammond in the heart of the defence, while Matthew Peters came in for the out-of-form Cedric Anselin.
Lynn's other changes came in the middle of the park where Charlie Defty came in for the suspended Sam McMahon, while Arron Benstead replaced John Higgs (who had made a couple of mistakes in Saturday's home defeat to Bath City) in goal, with Duncan McAnally named on the bench.
The Linnets, bidding to be promoted to the Conference set-up for the first time in their history, got off to the ideal start when they took the lead from the penalty spot in the third minute.
Striker Matt Nolan was bundled over in the box, before Cooper stepped up to blast in the resulting spot-kick.
Cooper was booked in the subsequent celebrations for taking off his shirt.
Chippenham threatened to level almost immediately through Steve Winter, whose hurried shot cleared Benstead's woodwork.
Jack Defty tried his luck from 25 yards 11 minutes into the contest, before Nolan fluffed his lines when clean through five minutes later.
The Bluebirds eventually equalised in the 19th minute through a dubious Ian Herring penalty after Cooper had been penalised for fouling Ross Adams in the box.
The west country side had further penalty claims turned away midway through the half when Mark Badman went to ground under pressure from Matt O'Halloran.
Six minutes before the break Charlie Defty saw his weak effort cleared off the line by Adams and into the arms of the grateful Chippenham keeper Ian Perrin.
Chippenham were always a threat in the air, and the tide turned in the 41st Defender sent off for two bookings as Lynn lose home semi to Chippenham minute when Ian Harvey headed home a Herring centre at the far post.
Seconds later Lynn broke down the right, and Nolan glanced a Peters cross into the arms of Perrin when the goal was almost at his mercy.
On the stroke of half-time Jack Defty's header from an Adam Smith free-kick fell agonisingly wide of the target.
Lynn surged forward at the start of the second period, and Nolan saw his drive turned around the post by the fingertips of Perrin two minutes after the restart.
Perrin was the Chippenham hero again when he denied the Defty brothers with a smart double save in the space of a few seconds.
Chippenham increased their advantage in the 56th minute when a long throw was nodded home by Adams to leave Lynn's season in tatters.
Cooper then turned from hero to zero. He was dismissed for his second yellow card in the 62nd minute to leave The Walks outfit with a mountain to climb.
Taylor substituted the ineffective Peters with Anselin midway through the half in a last throw of the dice.
Play was held up for a few minutes after a bottle of Coca-Cola appeared to be launched in the direction of the Chippenham goalkeeper.
The half-empty bottle was immediately handed to the fourth official by referee Mr Watts.
A sustained spell of Lynn pressure resulted in Jack Defty crashing a header against the woodwork, but time was running out with only 16 minutes left.
More substitutions could not alter the result, which means Lynn have lost a May bank holiday home playoff for the second time in three seasons.
It was all the more frustrating with the news that Bedford were winning at Bath City – so if Lynn had got past Chippenham, they would have been at The Walks again for the final on Saturday.
Taylor is reported to be meeting with the board within the next week regarding next season's side.
After their Conference hopes were dashed, Lynn may still be playing in a different league next season. A lot of the talk around the ground was about rumours the club could switch to the UniBond Northern League. Lynn: Benstead, West, Smith, C. Defty (Harvey 78), Cooper, Camm (82), J. Defty, Peters (Anselin 66), Nolan, Carey, O'Halloran (Hammond 87). Subs not used: Charles, McAnally.
Goal: Cooper (pen) 3 mins. Booked: Cooper 3. Sent-off: Cooper 62.
Chippenham: Perrin, Adams, Stanley, Day, McEntegart, Harvey, Winter (W. Thorne 79), Herring, Gilroy, Allison (Griffin 78), Badman. Not used: G. Thorne, Rawlins, Kirk. Booked: Herring, Allison.
Goals: Herring (pen) 19, Harvey 41, Adams 56.
Referee: A.S. Watts (Kidderminster). Attendance: 1,065. MoM: Charlie Defty.