King's Lynn 1 Havant & Waterlooville 1
13th April 2002
LINNETS coach Peter Morris accused several of his players of being `brain dead' after a poor second half showing against high-flying Havant on Saturday.Morris was displeased with several of his squad as Lynn plunged further into relegation trouble following a victory for drop rivals Newport IOW.
An unhappy Morris said: "We've done quite well in the first half but after the break we've gone to sleep and some of the players were brain dead.
"Some of the team were still in the dressing room after half time and it took the oldest player on the pitch in Paul Raynor to show them how to play."
Morris added although the Havant and Waterlooville team didn't create many chances they still had too much of the ball for his liking.
But this worked in Lynn's favour after they took the lead following a howler of an own goal in the 34th minute.
Havant's Shaun Gale decided to pass the back to keeper Paul Nicholls, when it would have been a lot easier to head it back, and Nicholls let the ball go through his legs.
But Gale redeemed himself by equalising in the 57th minute when he headed home a teasing cross from Gareth Hall.
Lynn dominated early on and in the ninth minute Simon Bush mis-kicked when the ball came across the Havant area.
Two minutes later Adie Hayes' effort from just outside the box whistled past the Havant post.
The Walks outfit continued where they left off against Tiverton with some fine football, but, as so often this season, the final ball in and around the box let them down.
Lynn striker Matt Clements, returning from a bad head injury, caused Havant all kinds of problems with his pace, as did fellow frontman Simon Bush.
The Linnets were dealt a blow in the 20th minute when influential defender, Simon Dakin, limped off with a groin injury.
He was replaced by Wayne Anderson, who was later substituted himself as Lynn pushed an extra man up front.
Havant's only clear chance of the half came in the 7th minute when Jamie O'Rourke slipped over when well placed in the box.
After the break several Lynn players looked tired and uninterested and Havant controlled most of the half.
The Hawks almost snatched an equaliser at the start of the second period when Jamie O'Rourke stuck out his foot and glanced an effort just wide of Steve Wilson's left post.
In the 54th minute Wilson came to the rescue with a brave dive at the feet of Neil Champion after Steve Welsh had given the ball away.
Two minutes from time Wilson was forced into another acrobatic save, this time to deny Havant's Taylor. Lynn: Wilson, Dakin (Anderson 20, Watts 72), McNamara, McNeil, Fuff, Welsh, Staff, Raynor, Clements, Bush (Clarke 60), Hayes.
Havant: P. Nicholls, G. Connolly (P. Wood 78), C. Ferrett (B. Price 72), S. Gale, G. Hall, L. Daish, N. Champion, D. Blake, J. 0' Rourke, J. Taylor, N. Davis.
Att: 754 Referee: P. Martin (Wellingboro).
| MATCH STATISTICS | Shots on Target | Shots off Target | Corners | Caught Offside | Free kicks Conceded |
Bookings |
| Lynn | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | |
| Havant | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 12 | Gale (32, shirt pull) Taylor (44, late tackle) Daish (55, dissent) Champion (89, time wasting) |