Boston United 0 King's Lynn 1
3rd April 1999
LINNETS left it late to win this derby in more ways than one.
Bizarrely, they could face a fine from the league by causing the match to he delayed by 10 minutes because the referee thought their kit clashed with Boston's amber and black.
Then Lynn's Mark Turner grabbed the winner with just three minutes to go. Lynn defied a hostile atmosphere in a typical derby broken tip by frequent lengthy stoppages for treating injuries.
The second half was stormy after the hosts' Martin Hardy was sent-off for elbowing Lynn manager Gary Mills, who the home crowd thought had made a meal of it, and Boston had a goal disallowed.
Despite not registering a single corner, Lynn eased any lingering relegation worries by recording their third win and clean sheet on the trot
- a first for this season.
Boston, whose manager supposedly kept back his players' wages to fire them up for this game, were on an 18-games unbeaten home run stretching back to September.
"It was a brilliant result in a hostile atmosphere," said Mills. "I know their crowd didn't like their man being sent off for elbowing me, but it's against the rules of the game.
"Someone forgot to pack the red shirts in, so I presume we'll get fined," he said about the late start.
The drama started when Lynn, ready to begin the match, were ordered back to the dressing room to change their strip.
Linnets ended up wearing last year's Boston away strip, with Micky Nuttell - fired up facing his old club - sporting the number 16 shirt!
Both sides found it difficult on a dry, bobbling pitch. Dave Puttnam and Nuttell shot straight at the keeper.
Pilgrims' Ian Stringfellow nearly scored against his old club, lashing a 30-yard swinging volley just wide. An injury to skipper Colin Hoyle meant Paul Ramsey came on and Mills switched to right-back.
Nuttell headed over from a Puttnam cross, while - just before half-time Richard Mason's 30-yard free-kick was deflected inches over Martini's bar.
Soon after the break Craig Clark mis-hit a clearance and ex-Linnet Andy Stanhope's squared ball somehow eluded two attackers. A minute later Puttnam's goal-bound effort was blocked by teammate Nuttell.
Midway through the half Stanhope pounced on a goalmouth scramble, but Mills cleared his shot off the line. Then in the Lyrin box Hardy elbowed Mill's in full view of the referee, who dismissed the home defender. The Boston fan's were incensed when Clark was only booked for a similar offence.
Shaun Keeble came on to make his Linnets debut, following a £4,000 transfer, against the team who had tried to sign him.
Mills again cleared off the line to deny Mason. From the resulting corner Steve Charles seemed to handle the ball into the net and the goal was disallowed for the infringement.
In the dying minutes Puttnam went up with keeper John Bastock, who missed it and Turner was presented with a gift. He waited for the ball to drop and tapped in to become the first Lynn scorer to reach double figures, not bad for a midfielder who arrived halfway through the season. At the death Keeble lobbed wide.
At the final whistle, half the team saluted the 300 travelling fans by taking their shirts off as if to offer them in gratitude. But it is doubtful the Lynn fans would accept any Boston property.
Lynn: Martini, Hoyle (Ramsey 34), McGinty, Fuff, Clarke, Mills, Turner, Goss, Nuttell, Wilson (Keeble 70), Puttnam. Sub (not used) Cotterell)
Boston: Bastock, Gowshall, Curtis, Stringfellow (Melson 69), Hardy, Charles, Stanhope, Costello (Featherstone 82), Rawle (Childs 82), Watts, Mason
| MATCH STATISTICS | Shots on Target | Shots off Target | Corners | Caught Offside | Free kicks Conceded |
Bookings |
| Lynn | 4 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 8 | Hoyle (6, foul) Nuttell (46, foul) Clark (72, elbow) |
| Boston | 1 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 16 | Charles (1, foul) |