King's Lynn 2 Droyslden 2
16th Augut 2008
SUBSTITUTE Danny Bloomfield came off the bench to rescue an unlikely point for the Linnets to maintain their unbeaten start in the Blue Square North.
Keith Webb's side looked to be heading for their first defeat of the campaign until poacher-supreme Bloomfield pounced on an error by Droylsden keeper Jon Kennedy in the dying seconds.
Bloomfield's late strike was the only bright spot of a woeful second half display, which saw Lynn punished for two schoolboy errors at the back.
Linnets boss Webb said: "I'm pleased to have got something out of the game from the jaws of defeat.
"As a manager you can't legislate for the errors we made and the players have to take responsibility.
"I can handle any player making a mistake but there were other aspects of our game which disappointed me.
"There will be times in games where we are going to be under the cosh and that's when you expect your experienced players to come to the fore and pull you through.
"But that didn't happen against Droyslden and at times we looked ragged."
Lynn started brightly with half-chances falling the way of both Michael Frew and Julian Joachim.
Frew then forced Kennedy into a routine save before some magic from Joachim on the left led to Lynn's opening goal.
Joachim left his marker in his wake before crossing to Jack Defty to tap in from three yards.
Minutes later Defty came within inches of doubling Lynn's lead when he lobbed a Ben Sedgemore centre over the bar.
Webb made a tactical substitution at the interval, replacing Joe Francis, who hardly touched the ball in the first half, with David Bridgwater.
But it was Droylsden, whose passing and movement was head and shoulders above that of Lynn's, who grew in confidence as the game wore on.
The Bloods' cause was helped in the 63rd minute when Lynn's Simon Weaver and Defty left the field following a nasty clash of heads when going for the same ball.
Defty's wound needed five stitches, but the duo's exit left a gaping hole on the pitch itself.
Droylsden levelled in the 70th minute following an awful mix-up between Mark Camm, who had replaced Weaver at right-back, and Howie between the posts.
Camm's cushion header fell well short of a hesitant Howie and visiting substitute Kevin Townson nipped in to score.
Seven minutes later Droylsden got their noses in front when the usually-reliable Howie flapped at a Neil Sorvel cross and Carl Lamb glanced the ball into the net.
Sloppy Lynn looked out on their feet until Greg Crane's knockdown from a Ben Chapman delivery was only half saved and Bloomfield nipped in to level at the far post.
Bridgwater saw his late, long-range effort whistle over the visiting woodwork, but a Lynn winner would have been an injustice on an impressive Droylsden side, whose fluent passing game from the back really caught the eye.
The final whistle saw both sides end the game with identical records – three draws from their first three fixtures – and Lynn will need to show a lot more steel if they are to improve on that record in the weeks ahead.
Goals: Defty (33), Bloomfield (90).
Droylsden: Kennedy, Roache, Newton, Byron, Halford, Sorvel, Burbeary (Brown 64), McGuire, Gedman (Townson 57), Lamb, Burns (Brownhill 84). Subs not used: Meadowcroft, Clancy. Booking: Gedman.
Goals: Towson (70), Lamb (77).
Referee: A Newbold (Leics). Attendance: 1,035. MoM: Mark Peters.
Stats, Lynn first: shots on target 4, 4; off target 7, 2; corners 2, 3; offside 3, 2; free-kicks 18, 11. Report by permission of the Lynn News