Tiverton Town 1 King's Lynn 1
8th September 2001
SUBSTITUTE Lyndon Rowland opened his account for the season as the Linnets maintained their unbeaten start away from The Walks.Rowland scored a delightful individual goal thirteen minutes from time before a late goal handed a classy Tiverton outfit a share of the spoils
Linnets coach Tommy Wright said: "I was disappointed to score late on and not hold onto the lead but at the end of the day a draw was probably a fair result.
"Tiverton were probably one of the liveliest sides we've played up-front but they were a little suspect at the back"
Lynn started off the faster with Rowe heading a Tommy Wright centre over in the 5th minute, before being foiled by Tiverton keeper Paul Edwards less than 60 seconds later.
Goalkeeper Steve Wilson must have feared the worst in the 7th minute when he .handled outside the area, .but luckily for him, referee Mr Ainge only showed him a yellow card.
Tiverton were now well on top and seven minutes later a volley from Kevin Nancekivell struck the underside of the woodwork before bouncing off the goal line to safety.
The West Country side continued to pour forward in numbers, with the Linnets midfield struggling to stem their attacks.
Impressive home striker Richard Pears fired wide from an acute angle, before Wilson saved well from Steve Ovens.
Ovens left the field after an accidental clash of heads with Glen Fuff midway through the half, and just as he returned 10 minutes later, it was Steve Welsh's turn to leave the field with a similar injury.
Like Ovens, Welsh, who needed four stitches in a cut, returned to the pitch with his head bandaged.
On the stroke of half time, Edwards pulled off a superb point-blank save to thwart Lee Hudson after a darting run from Rowe had put him clear.
Lynn enjoyed their best spell of an entertaining match after the break.
Hayes saw his shot deflected for a corner and a minute later Welsh had the ball in the net from a Wright centre, but to the amazement of everyone, the goal was ruled out after the defender was harshly adjudged of fouling the Tiverton keeper.
A disappointed Wright said: "It looked like their keeper slipped and Welshy put it in. None of the Tiverton players were claiming a foul but only when the ball went in did the referee decide to blow up."
Lynn replaced Rowe with Rowland midway through the half and within 10 minutes of entering the fray, the centre-forward scored the goal that the Linnets' second-half efforts had deserved.
Rowland dispossessed Paul Tatterton on the edge of the box and dummied the keeper before rounding Nicky Marker to slot the ball home.
Tiverton responded by replacing Paul Tatterton with Anthony Lynch in the 81st minute and the move paid dividends when the striker's first action was to glance a David Steele cross past a bemused Wilson, who seemed reluctant to claim the ball.
Wright said: "We never cleared the box from the corner and when it came back in Steve was caught in two minds whether to come and claim it."
Wilson redeemed himself three minutes from time when he denied Ovens to ensure Lynn of a point.
Tiverton: Edwards, Winter, Saunders, Tatterton (Lynch 81). Marker, Rogers (Steele 36), Nancekivell, Ovens, Pears, Chenoweth, Leonard. Sub not used: Everett.
Lynn: Wilson, Dakin, March, Robinson, Fuff, Welsh, Wright (Evans 73), Hayes, Rowe (Rowland 67), Hudson (Clarke 80), Minett.
Att: 734.
Bookings: Wilson (Lynn,7) handling outside the area. MoM: Steve Welsh