King's Lynn 1 Vauxhall Motors 1
14th March 2009
Boss Keith Webb agreed it was like the film Groundhog Day - where a TV newsman wakes up to find himself repeating every day - as the Linnets conceded a stoppage-time equaliser for the third game running.
The recurring nightmare means Lynn have equalled a 28-year-old club record of 18 draws in a season when Tom Hannigan cancelled out Dominic Dwyer's first senior home goal.
Webb said: "We're certainly getting a monkey on our back now. It's a mental thing � that's all it is.
"As soon as the free-kick came in I thought to myself 'we've messed it up, I just had a bad feeling about it. I turned away.
"The stupid thing is with those points (lost through late equalisers), you never know where you might be.
"You keep going on about it but you can't keep harping on about the same thing.
"Sooner or later you question whether they're listening. As a manager you're meant to have the answers, and I haven't got any.
"We'd done everything right, I don't think Scott Howie had a save to make before then, but we couldn't get the second goal to kill them off. We didn't have the final ball.
"But a team will always have one chance against you, whether it's Manchester United or the Dog and Duck."
It was typical end-of-season fare between two mid-table sides. In the only Lynn change, Jack Defty came in for midfielder Andrew Fisk (hamstring).
Defty was deployed in a withdrawn role � similar to earlier in his Lynn career � behind frontmen Renton and Dwyer.
The Walks outfit endeavoured to win it, but lacked the killer ball to break down the Motors' defence.
Few chances came in a quiet start. Luke Graham made a last-ditch tackle to snuff out the threat of Motors' Karl Noon.
An Adam Smith free-kick from the right was tipped over by away keeper James Coates.
A minute later an almost identical Smith free-kick led to Lynn going ahead on the half-hour mark, Dwyer glancing into the top of the net at the far post for his second Lynn senior goal.
Renton had the ball in the net 12 minutes after the break, but was pulled back by the referee, who had a curious second half when he seemed to forget his cards while dealing with Vauxhall fouls from behind.
More huffing and puffing from Lynn led to little, and the game seemed to be closing out after Lynn had used all three subs. However, in the dying seconds of a generous three minutes' stoppage time, Hannigan headed home a free-kick via the post past the helpless Scott Howie. Lynn: Howie, Graham, Smith, Peters, Thomas, Camm, Mitchell (C. Defty 80), Johnson, Renton (Crane 87), Dwyer, J. Defty (Kelly 56). Sub not used: Murray.
Booked: Dwyer 45 mins. Goal: Dwyer 30.
Vauxhall Motors: Coates, Owens (Wright 72), Hannigan, Marsh-Evans, Griffiths, Holmes, Holden, Burke, Noon, Field, Otobo (Egerton 60). Not used: Mustafa.
Goal: Hannigan 90.
Referee: N. Hair (Peterborough). Attendance: 939.
Stats, Lynn first: shots on target 2, 2; off target 2, 3; corners 3, 5; offside 4, 1; free-kicks 13, 11.