Burnham 0 King's Lynn 3
6th March 2004
HE may have provoked the most controversy this season, but Steve Wilson showed why he is the first choice keeper as Lynn notched their 100th goal of the campaign.
Dale Watkins bagged a brace and Carl Holmes one to keep Lynn top of the table.
The old jokes about calling a keeper Dracula (scared of crosses) may have resurfaced, but Wilson displayed why he is a shot-stopper par excellence. He so frustrated Burnham forward Terry Davies with a quadruple save, including a double penalty stop, that when Davies was substituted he threw his shirt down near the goal - a nod to Wilson's dominance, perhaps?
Joint boss Darren Bloodworth said: "Steve's had his knockers, but his performance from start to finish was excellent. The double save was probably the best you'll see. He kept us in the game.
"After we weathered that, there was one team going to win it. We were guilty of giving the ball away in the first half, but after the start of the second half we rectified that.
"What pleases me is the last three away games we've scored ten and kept three clean sheets at some potential dodgy places to lose at."
Lynn lorded the possession in the first half-hour without breaking through, but Watkins bagged the ton-up goal on 35 minutes with the Linnets' fifth corner of the game.
Instead of whipping it into the box, Lee Stevenson switched it quickly to Craig Fishlock who drilled hard and low for Watkins to turn it in from five yards.
Five minutes later a Watkins overhead kick flashed just past the post.
Then came Wilson's heroics either side of the break when Burnham hit back. Twice Wilson foiled Davies when he ran clear, taking advantage of mistakes by Gary Setchell and Gary Butterworth.
On 50 minutes the assistant flagged for a harsh-looking handball on Daniel Hammond, and Davies stepped up for the penalty. Wilson palmed it over - but the referee ruled the keeper had moved off his line.
Bloodworth added: "The assistant was a disgrace. The ball hit Daniel's knee and bounced on to his arm. Daniel didn't let anyone down and has proved to be a great find."
Fishlock was booked for arguing, and this time Wilson blocked the spot-kick, with Mark Camm the first to react and clear. And when Wilson came off his line to punch out the resulting corner, the away fans cheered and sang his name.
On the hour emergency right-back Camm, who with Hammond was outstanding in helping to weather the home pressure, passed to Staff who centred for Holmes to control and then hit into the net.
With this strike midfielder Holmes equalled last season's tally of 21 goals, bringing his Lynn career total to a staggering 42 in 85 games - a record any striker would be proud of.
A minute from the end Defty lobbed beautifully over the left-back Brett's head for Watkins to smash past the keeper for his eighth goal of the campaign.
Lynn: Wilson, Camm, Butterworth, Hammond, Setchell, Fishlock, Defty, Holmes (Chick 86), Staff, Watkins, Stevenson (Woodrow 65). Subs not used: Bacon, Higgs.
Burnham: Smith, Noakes, Brett, Horsted, Jones, Lockhart, Logie (Nutter 70), Ferdinand, Davies (Mitchell 55), Lennon (Tooley 70), James. Sub not used: : Morris.
Referee: R Matthews (Stokenchurch) Attendance: 130
| FACTfile | Shots on Target | Shots off Target | Corners | Caught Offside | Free kicks Conceded |
Bookings |
| Lynn | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 16 | Setchell (25 shirt pulling) Fishlock (51 dissent) Defty (75 foul) |
| Burnham | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 14 | Mitchell (62, off-ball incident) |
| Lynn News Man of the Match - Steve Wilson | ||||||