King's Lynn 2 Northwood 1
10th March 2007
NOT A vintage display from the Linnets, but at this stage of the season, as
manager Keith Webb well knows, the result was the most important thing. The basement side took a shock lead early in the second half.
But Lynn maintained their 100 per cent record against Northwood thanks to 'captain marvel' Mark Warren equalising, while Danny Bloomfield marked his return to The Walks with a typical poacher's goal for the winner.
Webb said: "I thought we were ring-rusty, but at this stage of the season all that matters is the three points. "They scored direct from a corner, which lifted them. We had no-one on the far post, but we sorted that out quite quickly. "He (Damon Ming) was putting the corners consistently under the bar and putting us under a lot of pressure. He was also a lively player down at their place.
"They just worked very hard, didn't play too much football and stopped us playing.
"We scored quite quickly after that, which gave us more confidence to keep going and get a second goal.
"Mark Warren deserved his equaliser. He's a rock in the middle of defence, and I'm glad we've got him."
On Bloomfield bagging a goal on his Walks return, Webb said: "That's why we signed him. We know he's capable of scoring, it's what he's paid to do. It was scripted for him to do that.
"We've now got four strikers who are doing okay. I've now got a lot of options, especially now we've got games coming thick and fast."
"It was an absolutely magnificent save from Paul, and won us the game. As soon as the fellow hit it, I thought it was in.
"Jack Defty had the ball in the net which was disallowed, but the players at the time reckoned the ball didn't go out."
Northwood proved to be a limited team there for the taking, but Lynn struggled to do so. They lacked sharpness after a two-week lay-off, and the killer final pass frequently letting them down in the first half.
Jack Defty looked to have put Lynn ahead on 14 minutes when he headed home Alex Notman's corner but the flag-kick was adjudged to have gone out of play.
On the half-hour mark Michael Frew's cross/shot from the left hit the top of the bar.
Notman soon succumbed to injury after being clattered by James Shipperley, the brother of ex-Southampton striker Neil, and was soon replaced by Bloomfield, who entered to cheers from the crowd.
The 'Wood netted direct from an in-swinging Damon Ming corner within two minutes of the restart, with Lynn caught napping. Keeper Paul Crichton, looking into the sun without a cap on, seemed to lose sight of the ball.
However, on 52 minutes a bad back-pass by Shipperley conceded a corner, which Steve Melton took and was firmly nodded home by Warren.
Melton wasted another opportunity while Bloomfield did not connect properly with a couple of efforts. Bloomfield made no mistake with a quarter-hour remaining, prodding home after a mix-up at a ball over the top occured between Venezulan goalkeeper Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz and his defence.
An excellent save came from Crichton, who pawed away sub Harry Hunt's goalbound shot, while at the end of the game Lee Holland hit the top of the woodwork, and the three points were preserved.
Lynn: Crichton, West, C. Defty, Warren, Crane, Camm, Notman (Bloomfield 38), McMahon (Fisk 70), J. Defty, Frew (Nolan 59), Melton. Subs not used: Fell, Harvey. Booked: Frew.
Northwood: Jaimez-Ruiz, Holland, Murphy, Tackley, Shipperley, Sparrowhawk (Carter 79), Williams, Buchanan, Hall (Hunt 71), Dean, Ming. Not used: Nolan, Pearce, Hogan. Booked: Tackley, Shipperley.
Att: 924.
MoM: Mark Warren. Referee: M. George (Norfolk).