King's Lynn 5 Thrapston 1
3rd March 2012
LINNETS boss Gary Setchell admitted that he would have been unhappy had Luke Thurlbourne's controversial goal been scored against his side.
Lynn's no-nonsense midfielder netted a highly-contentious second goal, which sparked chaotic scenes during the game and going into the tunnel at half-time.
Thurlbourne offered to kick the ball back to Thrapston goalkeeper Dan Waters after the referee had stopped play for a Thrapston injury.
He attempted to do this, but his kick caught Waters off his line and found its way into the empty net.
Angry visiting players confronted the referee, who was left with little option but to apply the letter of the law, and tempers continued to boil over after Lynn refused to let Thrapston go up the other end of the pitch and score a goal back..
Setchell, who didn't see the incident at the time, said: "If Luke's goal had come against us then I would have been very unhappy
"Having now seen what actually happened, I wouldn't have had any complaints had the referee ruled out the goal.
"I can see why Thrapston were angry and I would have been exactly the same.
"I saw the Thrapston lad go down because the ball struck him in the face. We were in good possession of the ball and the referee blew his whistle.
"I turned round to talk to Spriggsy about getting warmed up and the ball went in. It all happened in a matter of seconds.
"I don't know if there was any dialogue between the players as to whether the referee was going to give a drop ball - then there was mayhem.
"The next thing I saw was Luke celebrating and as far as I was concerned it was a goal. These things happen in football.
"Someone came down and said 'you should let us score' but it all happened so fast and I was really semi-oblivious to what had gone on.
"I'm not doing an Arsene Wenger and saying 'I didn't see it'. I genuinely didn't know whether it came from a contested drop ball or not."
Linnets playmaker Rob Hughes hit a brilliant double, while Lynn's other goals came courtesy of Jack Defty and an own goal by Thrapston's Mortimer.
Due to there being no set rule regarding �unsporting' goals, similar incidents have caused problems in the past.
Back in December, young Brazilian striker Pottker was sent-off for competing a drop ball and then going on to score a goal during the Figueirense versus Bahia under 20 match.
The goal was allowed to stand for Figueirense, who eventually went on to win the game 4-1, but Pottker was sent-off for his unsporting play.
Setchell defended Thurlbourne, saying: "Luke was happy he scored a goal. That's the type of player he is and he wants to win.
"If it was an uncontested drop ball and he shot then he shot. Normally if you're giving the ball back you put it out on the sideline so it's difficult."
King's Lynn Town: Street, Deeney, Fryatt, Watson (Buhlemann 74), Yong, Beaumont (Spriggs 53), L. Thurlbourne, Hughes, J. Thurlbourne, Turner and Harris (Defty 53)
Subs not used: Wall and White
Goals: Hughes (6 and 62), L.Thurlbourne (38), Mortimer (OG 72) and Defty (76)
Thrapston: Waters, Melling, Le Masurier (Mortimer 67), Ekins, Gotch, Harris, Cirelli, Fowler (Pender 73) , Morgan (Chubb 77), Mitchell and Ollerenshaw
Goals: Morgan (36).
Bookings: Le Masurier, Morgan and Harris.
Referee: C. Ford. Attendance: 642. Man-of-the-match: Rob Hughes.