King's Lynn 1 Fleetwood Town 0
6th September 2008
LYNN'S Michael Frew capped his 100th appearance for the club with the winning goal as the Linnets finally picked up their first Blue Square North win at the eighth time of asking.
Frew struck 18 minutes into the contest to complete a dream afternoon for both the club and the player.
It ended the Linnets' longest spell without a win at the start of the season for more than 30 years.
Goalscoring hero Frew said: "I was buzzing just to get the win, but to score the winner on my 100th game as well is something else.
"I'm just pleased for the lads and the fans. We should have won a couple of other games before Saturday but hopefully we can now kick on from here."
Linnets boss Keith Webb said: "We should have had the game wrapped up by half-time.
"We had a couple of other chances early in the second half and then all of a sudden the opposition have a good spell.
"You could sense that people were getting nervous in the circumstances, even the crowd."
On Lynn's second successive clean sheet, Webb said: "I thought the back four were magnificent and we kept our shape and discipline a lot better."
The Linnets saw a third-minute headed "goal" from Simon Weaver ruled out for an alleged push in the box before they were forced into an early change with the injured Ben Chapman being replaced my Mark Camm.
Chapman's departure saw Adam Smith switch into the left-back slot and Smith enjoyed an outstanding afternoon, hardly putting a foot wrong.
Lynn took the lead in the 18th minute when a Joe Francis free-kick was headed on by both Mark Peters and Weaver for Frew to volley home through a crowd of players just inside the box.
Midway through the half a long ball from Smith found Jack Defty, whose lob was brilliantly plucked out of the air by visiting goalkeeper Danny Hurst.
Fleetwood's best chance of the half came in the 38th minute when a delightful chip from Mark Peers cannoned back off the bar and Adam Warlow saw his follow-up header smothered by the body of Linnets goalkeeper Scott Howie.
Lynn immediately broke up the other end of the pitch and missed a glorious chance to double their advantage when Frew shot straight into the arms of Hurst with just the visiting goalkeeper to beat.
Fleetwood came more into the game in the second half although Lynn created the better opportunities on goal, with three half-chances going begging in the first ten minutes of the restart.
Lynn became more edgy as the half wore on and Fleetwood began to enjoy the bulk of the possession and play.
Midway through the half a last-gasp tackle from Weaver denied visiting substitute Andrew Bell a certain equaliser.
Lynn: Howie, C. Defty, Chapman (Camm 15, Sedgemore 72), Weaver, Peters, Mitchell, Frew, Smith, J. Defty, Joachim (Bloomfield 62), Francis. Subs not used: Turner, Murray.
Goal: Frew (18).
Fleetwood: Hurst, Walmsley, Hills, Doughty, Kilbane, Pond (Bell 51), Peers (Potts 63), Milligan, Warlow (Denney 79), Beattie, Thompson. Not used: Bayliss, Dunn.
Booked: Hills, Walmsley.
Referee: M. Bampton (Suffolk). Attendance: 1,143. MoM: Adam Smith.
Report by permission of the Lynn News
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