Salisbury City 2 King's Lynn 3
11th September 1999
LINNETS gave their supporters a fright after seemingly wrapping up the game after 50 minutes with a three-goal lead.
A performance resembling 'total football' in the first hour - with manager Gary Mills leading by example - meant Lynn completely outclassed the hosts and they could easily have been 6-0 up instead of three.
But their inability to kill off opponents again surfaced as Salisbury were allowed back in the game with two second half goals.
"I'm delighted, I thought some of the football was fantastic," enthused Mills. 'We should have been five or six up by half-time. We can't dominate games and be 1-0 up at halftime. The front three were superb, but they all could have had a hat-trick.
"Mark Turner deserved his two goals," added Mills. I had a little chat with him - I couldn't see him scoring goals because he was hanging back."
"Steve McGinty switched off for the second goal - he was caught out of position. It was close between Richard Butler and Steve as to who would start. Richard came on for his debut and did well."
Mills could not conceal his delight at Dave Puttnam's contribution: "Dave was quality. We were within five minutes of losing him to Boston."
There was no sign of the action to come as both sides took time to settle. After good work by Lee Wilson, Dave Taylor crossed from the by-line and Puttnam's effort clipped the bar. A minute later Puttnam blazed wide after collecting a McGinty ball over the top.
However, Linnets struck when Jeremy Goss fed Puttnam, who gave Darren Lush a torrid time before planting a perfect cross onto Mark Turner's head for an easy goal. Turner should have quickly added a second but his careful shot was tipped round the post by Steve Mildenhall.
The chances came thick and fast, but wasteful finishing let the hosts off the hook. Wilson headed over Puttnam's cross to miss an open goal, then hit the side netting.
In the first minute of the second half it was Turner's turn to spurn an opportunity from Puttnam.
But immediately Wilson fed Puttnam, whose shot was half-blocked before bouncing over the line.
Salisbury's best effort was when Ian Chalk was denied by Chuck Martini and Simon Dakin cleared the danger. But a minute later Gary Mills intercepted Ian Howell's attempted attack and released Wilson, who centred for Turner to drill in the bottom corner.
Lynn's earlier misses came back to haunt them as Paul Sales turned in Nick Miles's cross at close range to give the Whites a lifeline.
But Lynn should still have sealed the match as Puttnam (twice) and Wilson contrived to miss from one-on-one situations.
Salisbury sensed their chance and a Dominic Barclay thunderbolt was well saved. They gave Lynn a nervous last eight minutes when Chalk's rasping shot was parried by Martini and Miles converted the rebound. But Linnets held out as new signing Butler looked comfortable after coming on to make his first team debut. Lynn: Martini, Dakin, McGinty, Robinson, Clark, Mills, Turner (Butler 83), Goss, Taylor, Wilson (Keeble 77), Puttnam (Marsden 83). Subs (not used) Marsden, Keeble
Salisbury: Mildhenhall, Lush, Howell (Rofe 52), Powell (Shepherd 67), Emms, Savage, Miles, Sales, Barclay, Chalk, Housley (Bowens 33).
| MATCH STATISTICS | Shots on Target | Shots off Target | Corners | Caught Offside | Free kicks Conceded |
Bookings |
| Lynn | 6 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 3 | |
| Salisbury | 7 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 12 |