Beckenham Town 1 King's Lynn 2

8th January 2011

JOINT King's Lynn Town boss Kevin Boon was beaming with pride after watching his players come from behind to book a trip to Norton and Stockton Ancients in the last 32 of the FA Vase.
The Linnets looked on the cusp of elimination after Jack Defty's penalty miss in the second failed to cancel out Quentin Conteh's first half strike for the hosts.
But late goals from substitute Kieran Doherty and Defty sealed Lynn's passage into the next round.
A delighted Boon said: "Our second half performance was probably our best from coming behind in the competition this season.
"We came from behind at Dereham and also against Yarmouth but today we were pure class in the second half.
"We held our discipline and kept trying to play football and in the end we got our rewards, even after missing a penalty.
"Dan (Buhlemann) got the shirt in the second half and now deserves to keep it, Kieran (Doherty) came off the bench to score an equaliser, but for me Luke Thurlbourne was man-of-the-match today for his work-rate and effort over the 90 minutes."
Boon revealed that the management team had to read the riot act at half-time to keep Lynn's FA Vase dream alive.
"There were only three or four players trying in the first half and, quite rightly, they were given a real bollocking at half-time.
"Once again today shows how well the players have looked after and conditioned themselves in the last few weeks. Their fitness levels on a very wet and heavy pitch were fantastic."
The Linnets got off to the worst possible start when, in the 14th minute, a poor backpass left goalkeeper Alex Street in no-mans land and Danny McKone crossed for Conteh to land an early knockout blow.
Lynn responded with Ross Watson's header being tipped over the crossbar by Nick Blue before McKone hooked the resulting Jamie Thurlbourne corner off the line.
Beckenham missed an excellent opportunity to double their advantage in the 28th minute when Steve McNamara's low centre found Nick Curran, whose shot was blocked by an alert Jamie Alsop.
Robbie Harris was denied by the legs of Blue following a flick-on from Defty, while at the other end Street atoned for his earlier error with a brilliant save to his right from a McNamara free-kick.
The Linnets replaced an out-of-sorts Martin McNeil with Dan Buhlemann at half-time and upped the tempo by camping in the Beckenham half for long periods after the restart.
Defty squandered an excellent chance to level after 53 minutes firing a penalty wide after Robbie Harris had been fouled in the box.
But Lynn were back on level terms after 77 minutes when substitute Doherty capitalised on a mistake from Beckenham keeper Blue to stab home.
With Beckenham tiring and hanging on, the Linnets booked a trip to Teeside when Defty rose above an over-worked Beckenham defence to glance home a Jamie Thurlbourne corner.
There was still time for more drama when Conteh flashed his shot across the face of goal and McKone saw his shot superbly saved by Street at point-blank range soon after.
Defty's bullet header flew over the bar as Lynn refused to rest on their laurels and in the dying seconds Chris Hill cleared a Jamie Thurlbourne's shot off the line.
Beckemham Town captain Hill felt Defty was the difference between the two sides on the day, saying: "Defty was a very good player. You could see he was almost the difference between the teams. He made bad balls into good balls.
"We handled him for most of the game but he's nicked it with a couple of minutes to go and scored the winner."
Beckenham Town: Nick Blue, Danny Gorman, John Farley, Chris Hill, Danny Lawson, Steve McNamara (James Holder 81), Danny McKone, Nick Curran, Quentin Conteh, Gary Gorman, Nathan Paul. Subs: Jason Cook, Reece Parmenter, Darren Wise, Jason Clews.
Goal: Quentin Conteh 14. Booked: Danny Lawson 17, Nick Curran 43.
King's Lynn Town: Alex Street, Patrick Bexfield, Jamie Alsop, Luke Thurlbourne, Martin McNeil (Daniel Buhlemann 46), Ross Watson, Stephen Spriggs, Danny White (Kieran Doherty 63), Jack Defty, Robbie Harris (Nelson Moreira 87), Jamie Thurlbourne.
Sub: Matthew Hails.
Goals: Kieran Doherty 77, Jack Defty 86. Booked: Ross Watson 16, Martin McNeil 45.
Attendance: 240. Referee: Mr Mark Tweed.