King's Lynn 2 Bedford Town 0
17th August 2004
GIANT striker Tony Battersby
opened his league account for the season as the Linnets overcame a dogged Bedford side to
make it two wins from two
games on Tuesday night.Battersby was a constant thorn in the visitors side with his vision, pace and touch and his second half penalty was just reward for a man-of-the-match performance.
The former Lincoln City frontman and fellow striker Danny Bloomfield continued to link-up well and look a partnership full of goals.
Joint boss Darren Bloodworth said: "I was pleased with our effort, commitment and shape and I'm delighted to have kept another clean sheet.
"But there are still one or two areas we need to improve on and that's something we'll be working on in training before the Hitchin game."
Bloodworth added: "We needed to lift our game a bit in the second half and we did that by scoring two goals.
"The only aspect to let us down at times was our ball retention."
It was the Battersby-Bloomfield partnership that nearly conjured up one of the fastest goals in Lynn's history.
Less than 16 seconds were on the clock when Daniel Hammond's clearance was flicked on by Battersby into the path of Bloomfield, who turned the Bedford defence inside out before being denied by the legs of keeper Ian Brown.
A minute later, a crisp passing move saw Battersby test Brown from long-range.
But the large Walks crowd were left stunned in the third minute when Adam Jones chopped down Bedford's Chris Dillon in the box and the Eagles were awarded a penalty.
Craig Ryderhand stepped up but saw his lightweight effort easily saved by Steve Wilson to his right.
Half chances fell the way of Angel, Bloomfield and Hammond before Battersby's cross flashed across the Bedford goal past the waiting Carl Holmes and Bloomfield on the stroke of half-time.
Two minutes after the restart Battersby picked out his partner in crime with a sublime chip, but Bloomfield was denied by the keeper's legs once again.
Lynn took the lead in the 54th minute when Battersby was adjudged to have been pushed before the came player stepped up to smash home the resulting spot kick.
Nervous Lynn fans were relieved to see a second goal arrive 19 minutes from time after a bullet header from Holmes, his first goal since March 6, following a Angel corner.
Four minutes from the end substitute Lee Stevenson's vicious shot forced Brown to spill the ball before the alert Bloomfield hit the loose ball into the side netting.
There was still time for Wilson to make one more contribution deep in injury time when he pulled off a fine fingertip save to deny Dillon.
Lynn: Wilson, Jones, Setchell, Burrows, Hammond, Sutch, Camm, Holmes (Fishlock 87), Battersby Bloomfield (Harris 87), Angel (Stevenson 85). Subs not used: Blake and Osborne.
Bedford: I. Brown, A. Blake, N.Quinn (J. James 81), S. Gooderham, J. Taylor, C. Ryderhand, D. McElroy, D. Stupple, C. Dillon, T. Hayes (R. Howe 76), R. Challinor (M. Duckett 76). Referee. Mr S. Artis (Norwich).
Attendance:1,145.
| FACTfile | Shots on Target | Shots off Target | Corners | Free kicks Conceded |
| Lynn | 7 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| Bedford | 5 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
| Lynn News Man of the Match - Tony Battersby. | ||||