Fisher Athletic 0 King's Lynn 5
1st February 2004
WHO needs Lee Stephenson?Seriously, the Linnets will miss their 19-goal 'fox in the box', who has left the club due to work commitments, but the team responded in the best possible manner with their 12th goal in a week and second successive 5-0 league win on a very sandy Salters Road pitch.
They need to keep winning to maintain a promotion push, and they're doing 3t in style.
After a very quiet opening 20 minutes, Lynn won at a canter, spurred on by three key players in each department.
They defended solidly, .led by centre-back skipper Glen Fuff, worked hard in midfield, which was orchestrated by the evergreen Paul Raynor; and were incisive upfront, with a David Staff brace making it six goals in three games for him.
The happy away support were soon into chants of 'Staffy for England' - and given last Wednesday's Upton Park performance, and Staff's form, who can blame them?
Once Staff had opened the scoring with a blatantly-offside goal, Lynn never looked back - and no-one would begrudge them their fortune.
Little had happened in the first half-hour, with Staff missing a lob chance and Chris Bacon failing to connect with a Lee Cowling cross.
At the other end, keeper Steve Wilson had quickly closed down Fisher striker Mark Parish.
But the game was ignited when Staff, who was yards offside when collecting Adam Weston's pass, took the ball around the keeper and did well to shoot home from an acute angle on the left.
Shortly after, a minute before half-time, a good ball from Staff found Bacon, who dealt well with a bobbling ball to trickle a shot into the opposite corner of the net.
Aided by Fisher keeper's Michael Holder's poor kicking, The Walks outfit bossed the second half apart from a brief spell when Lewis Phillips and sub Danny Kedwell fired straight at Wilson.
Holder tipped over a screamer from Staff, then following a home corner Raynor played an unbelievable clearance ball over the top for Jack Defty to run on to and calmly side-foot home at the near post.
Both Bacon and Carl Holmes beat the offside trap only to be denied by Holder, but with 15 minutes left Fuff cleared out to Holmes, who fed Staff for his second goal, which was a replica of his first finish.
Two substitutes were involved in the final goal. Jordan Blyth on his Lynn league debut played a lovely threaded diagonal ball to Paul Watts, who made it five with another neat finish into the corner.
Lynn: Wilson, Jones, Cowling, Burrows, Fuff, Defty (lake 83), Weston, Raynor, Bacon (Blyth 70), Staff (Watts 76), Holmes. Subs not used: Blois, Nobes.
Fisher: M. Holder, A. Day, R. Ponsford (D. McKone 36), S. Aris, J. Muldowney (A. Young 80), T Dolby, R. Pacey, S. Tydeman, L. Huggins, M. Parish, L. Phillips (D. Kedwell h-t). Not used: D. Fletcher, M. Scowen.
Bookings, Lynn: Jones (64, foul); Weston (71, handball). Fisher: McKone (79, late tackle).
MoM: Paul Raynor. Att: 120. Referee: S. Choate (Surrey).