King's Lynn 0 Grantham Town 1
2nd October 1985
Colin Foster on Wednesday accepted stinging criticism from the fans after the Linnets stumbled to a Bill Dellow Cup defeat.
And he did not attempt to hide behind excuses, taking the blame himself.
"We played badly as team tonight. I'm the manager of the team and I'll carry the can.
"Last year when we did well I took the praise, now I'll take the criticism.
"There was no pattern to our play and if Grantham's finishing had been better we would have been buried long before half time.
"Now we have lost three games on the trot, but I don't think there's a need to panic. We have some good players and they need to lift each other to get out of this bad patch."
But Foster refused to be drawn into saying whether he would make changes for tomorrow's Southern League visit to Witney. "I want time to think it over before I name the team." he said.
In Tuesday's Lynn News Foster said that unless the Linnets performances improved, then some senior players faced the axe.
Just 24 hours later the Linnets hit rock-bottom with a defeat which almost certainly means they are out of the competition.
The only things to match Lynn's poor display was the quality of Grantham's finishing near goal as they missed a series of chances. Even the 42nd minute goal was a gift when Andy Claxton raced 40 yards out then put his clearance straight to Bob Duncan: as Claxton was still trying to get back the ball was played towards Neil Harwood who shot high into the net.
Lynn made changes for the second half, Mark Howard coming on for the injured Steve Hines and Foster switching himself to midfield. There was some improvement, with Foster hitting the post and Howard putting a fierce drive just over . . . but little else.
Lynn: Claxton, Mercer, Wood, Foster, Easthall, Ready, Gale, Watts, Hines (sub Howard 60 mins), Twigger, Beaver. Attendance 434.