King's Lynn 0 Leamington 2

2nd February 1974

THIS PERFORMANCE by the Linnets on Sunday must rank as their worst of the season.
Player-manager Frank Wignall said quite honestly: -We played pretty badly; it was a poor performance all round.
"We never got going at all and to cap it we gave them a couple of goals through back passes."
Wignall also made the point that highly-placed Leamington did not create any chances for themselves. But they did not have to because of Lynn's generosity.
Making things even worse for the Linnets they had Keith Rudd and Malcolm Lindsay both booked for dissent, arguing with Norwich referee K. B. Daniels,
Lindsay felt aggrieved with a decision against him for a first half tackle which did not seem any different to a number of other challenges that had gone unpunished; Rudd complained in the second half after being flattened by centre half Doug Griffiths without a decision going his way.
Leamington mid-field player, Steve, Lee was also booked for a foul on Dave Brooks in the second half.
With Lynn playing badly and feeling the referee's decisions were going against them they fell into a rut. .It needed a spark to lift them up, but none came and the Southern League points slipped away.
First half-an-hour was a dull mid-field affair and Leamington keeper Dave Jones did not break into a sweat until the 35th minute when he was out quickly to take a mis-hit back pass off the feet of Dominic McCallum.
There was more action in the last five minutes of the half than anything that had happened before. A diving header by Jimmy Goodfellow (the ex-Leicester player) was coolly stopped on the line by John Richardson then a Brooks shot from Wignall's free kick was pushed round by Jones in a spectacular save.
Leamington' broke the deadlock when, Norman Foster anticipated Richardson's thoughts and swept the ball off his feet to go clear, rounding Garry Steel before knocking in his 24th league goal of the season.
This 49th minute goal was followed in the 73rd minute by an error from Nigel Smith. His back pass was taken up by Foster and although Steel blocked the shot Neil Armstrong was on hand to snap up the rebound.
Lynn had not enough width in their attack to stretch Leamington, with players bunching in the middle making it easy for the visitors to put their clearances away.
Adams was a 58th minute substitute for McCallum and his first touch brought Lynn's second direct shot on goal. A minute later Wignall floated in a free kick which Jones pushed over the bar.
Lynn: Steel, Richardson, Lindsay, Brooks, Smith,. Wright, McCallum (sub Adams 58), Elliott, Rudd, Wignall, Clarke.
Leamington: Jones, Taylqr, Brady, Bowden, Griffiths, Boot (sub Wilkinson 60 mins), Armstrong, Lee, Stewart, Foster, Goodfellow.
Referee: K. B. Daniels (Norwich). Attendance: 686.