Bath City 2 King's Lynn 2
3rd March 2001
TRIALIST Kristian Jones stepped off the bench to rescue a point for the Linnets after the second-half dismissal of captain Dave Robinson had threatened to wreck Lynn's hopes of a result.Jones had been on the field less than a minute and hardly had a touch of the ball when Lyndon Rowland sent him clear to slide the ball under the body of Bath keeper Sal Bibbo.
It was no more than the battling Linnets had deserved after Robinson had received his marching orders in the 63rd minute for catching the heels of Bath danger man Sam Allison when clear through on goal.
The centre-half had already talked himself into a booking for hotly disputing a Bath penalty award at the end of the first half. But referee Mr Green decided that Robinson's challenge merited a straight red and the defender now faces a three-match ban rather than just the one if he been shown a second yellow.
"Robbo's challenge didn't deserve a straight red but even if it had just been a booking then he'd been sent off any how," said manager Tony Spearing after seeing his men gain a vital point.
"There was no way it was deliberate, their lad has run straight across him and Robbo has just caught him."
Up until Robinson's departure Lynn had been well in control of matters on the pitch and looked well capable of ending Bath's year-long unbeaten home record after dominating possession for long periods during the afternoon.
"We should have won it declared a downhearted Spearing. "We out battled them and defended very well when we had to."
Most of the drama unfolded during the seven minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first period.
The Linnets took the lead it the first few seconds of added time when a long goal kick from Chuck Martini found Simon Bush on the edge of the penalty box and the striker brilliantly turned his marker before thrashing the ball home on the volley.
Five minutes later, Bath were handed a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty after Wayne Anderson was harshly adjudged to have handled the ball. But justice was done when Martini brilliantly saved the resulting spot-kick from Martin Paul.
Defender Simon Dakin limped off with a hamstring injury at the start of the second half and worse soon followed for Lynn when Robinson had an early bath.
The home side took immediate advantage of their extra man, straight from the free kick which led to Robinson's departure, when Jon Holloway headed home Paul Bodin's set-piece.
Eighteen minutes from time, Steve Lenagh tried to dribble the ball to safety on the edge of the box but paid the price for dwelling on the ball when his clearance hit the legs of Bath's Jimmy Fraser before ballooning into Martini's net.
Spearing responded by replacing Lenagh with Jones and the endeavour of the Linnets' boss was rewarded when Jones netted his debut goal for the club.
It was then the turn of Martini to save his side with two breathtaking stops in the final five minutes.
The Moroccan dived to his right to prevent Allison's shot creeping inside his right post and with only seconds left he acrobatically kept out a Paul header.
Lynn: Martini, Dakin (Gibson 55), Clark Robinson, Fuff, Lenagh (Jones 76), Anderson, Hayes, Bush (McNeil 64 , Rowland, Palmer.
Bath: S. Bibbo, P. Tisdale (J. Gosling 80), S. Walker, J. Fraser, C. Towler, K. Lloyd, S. Allison, G. Colboume (M. Davis 23), J. Holloway, M. Paul, P. Bodin. Subs not used: M.Hartington.
Att: 601.
| MATCH STATISTICS | Shots on Target | Shots off Target | Corners | Caught Offside | Free kicks Conceded |
Bookings/S-Off |
| Lynn | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 16 | Robinson (45 dissent) Fuff (70 late tackle) Palmer (90 late tackle) Robinson (63 pro foul) 
|
| Bath | 7 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 9 |