King's Lynn 4 Tonbridge Angels 1
6th December 2003
The Linnets gave their slim title chances fresh hope by ending
Tonbridge's long unbeaten run at The Walks.Lynn turned on the second half style in front of their biggest league crowd of the season to humble the Angels and cut the deficit at the top of the table to 11 points.
Caretaker boss Darren Bloodworth said: "Normally when we play in front of a big crowd we shoot ourselves in the foot, but I think we've won a lot of friends today.
"I was disappointed with the goal we conceded and I thought we sat back and let them dictate too much in the first half, but after the break the players did everything I asked of them.
"This result just shows the capability within the side, but I'm still disappointed that we lost in the week. This win just papers over that defeat."
The Linnets got off to the best possible start in the sixth minute after Carl Holmes had been obstructed down the left and Lynn were awarded a free-kick.
Dead-ball specialist Dave Staff stepped up to bend the ball around a crowd of players and past Jamie Turner, who had a shaky afternoon between the posts for the league leaders.
A physical Angels outfit, who possessed bundles of pace up front, soon showed why they have come so hard to beat this season as they tried to bully Lynn out of their rhythm.
Their first real chance of the match saw them level in the 18th minute when the prolific Hamid Barr was allowed space on the edge of the box and the striker drilled home.
The equaliser sparked a long spell of Tonbridge possession, although there were very few chances at either end, as Lynn tried to recover from the shock
of conceding.
Fifteen minutes before the interval Tonbridge's John Beales and Lynn's Richard Woodrow were involved in a nasty clash of heads, which resulted in the pair both being substituted.
Ironically, Woodrow's departure did Lynn a big favour with Paul Raynor coming on to add steel and experience in the middle of the park, while Jack Defty took Woodrow's place on the right side of midfield.
Six minutes after the restart Raynor found Harris with a delightful pass and the striker chipped the ball over to Staff.
Staff returned the favour with a delicate chip of his own and Harris obliged by providing the finish to put Lynn back in front.
Unfortunately the goal led to some unsavoury scenes behind the goal as a handful of supporters from both sides decided to trade blows before order was soon restored.
Tonbridge thought they had levelled, in perhaps the turning point of an enthralling contest, three minutes later when Ray Powell back-heeled the ball over the line only for it to be ruled out for offside.
The Linnets doubled their advantage a minute later when Defty produced a sublime piece of skill to find Mark Camm, who sidefooted home from close range.
Steve Wilson then denied Brandon Cass with a comfortable save, before Defty provided the icing on the cake to a memorable afternoon in the 70th minute,
with a little help from the Tonbridge keeper.
Defty's speculative volley from 25 yards never looked like beating Turner, but the Angels' keeper somehow got himself in a tangle and the ball flew into the empty net.
There was still time for Lynn substitute Chris Bacon to have an effort cleared off the line, but by then Lynn were well home and dry.
Lynn received a standing ovation at the end of an edge-of-the-seat 90 minutes and quite rightly so for a brilliant display.
But once the euphoria from this victory has died down the players know they will have to reproduce this kind of performance week-in and week-out if they to considered as serious title challengers in the week's ahead.
Lynn: Wilson, Jones, March, Burrows, Fuff, Defty, Camm, Holmes, Harris (Ndekwe 71), Staff (Bacon 71), Woodrow (Raynor 33). Subs not used: Glarvey, Nobles.
Tonbridge: Turner, Beales (Cass 36), Roser, Dolby (Hodge 71), Larkin, Royston, Tydeman, Overton, Howell, Barr (Searle 78), Piscina
Bookings: Lynn: Burrows (dissent 52). Tonbridge: Larkin (late tackle 23) Referee: G S Hambling (Blofield Heath)
MoM: Mark Camm/Jack Defty