King's Lynn 1 Farsley Celtic 4
18th October 2008
THE watching Kidderminster representative must have left The Walks rubbing his hands in glee following Lynn�s Blue Square North capitulation against Farsley Celtic on Saturday.
Lynn were awful from start to finish against a side who, before Saturday, hadn�t won on their travels since April of last season.
It ended Lynn�s unbeaten Blue Square North home record, while it was their first loss on home soil since the visit of Corby last November.
Linnets boss Keith Webb blasted his side�s dismal showing, saying: "Farsley showed more desire than us, which annoyed me.
"They started the brighter and we left ourselves a mountain to climb by conceding two goals so quickly.
"Losing two experienced defenders destroyed what little rhythm we did have, but I�m not going to make excuses.
"Jack (Defty), who had been ill all week with the flu, was running about more than some of the players who had trained all week."
Caretaker Farsley Celtic boss Neil Parsley said: "We played a lot of good football today."
"Even in the first-half I thought we carved them open, but their keeper made three world-class saves before we even got on the scoresheet."
Lynn were rocked by a double injury blow in the space of a few minutes, losing Simon Weaver with a bad cut to the head and Mark Peters with a knock to his leg.
But by then goalkeeper Scott Howie had already kept The Walks outfit in the game with a string of fine early saves.
In the ninth minute, James Knowles met a Farsley corner with a thunderous volley, only to see Howie brilliantly palm the ball over the bar.
Howie was at his imperious best again eight minutes later when he denied Matthew James with a first-class save.
Midway through the half Weaver went up for a routine header and ended up leaving the field with blood pouring from a nasty-looking wound after an accidental clash of heads.
It was a comedy of errors both on and off the pitch as the visitors took the lead while the injured Peters, in obvious pain, was helped from the pitch.
From the moment he went to ground it was clear that he wouldn�t be able to continue, but Lynn carried on playing with ten men until he returned to the dugout.
Farsley duly capitalised on Lynn�s communication problems by taking the lead during their one-man advantage on the pitch as Tuck crossed for James Walshaw to stab home.
Less than a minute later it became 2-0 when James picked up a poor clearance from Charlie Defty and fed the ball through to Walshaw to fire into the empty net.
Lynn�s only attempt of the first half came in the 43rd minute when Danny Bloomfield�s header from a Joe Francis centre was deflected wide.
The Linnets slightly improved after the interval but it was the visitors who increased their advantage 13 minutes into the second half.
Dominic Krief�s free kick from the left was met by Knowles, whose bullet header smashed into the back of the net.
Lynn gave themselves some brief hope in the 73rd minute when Scott Mitchell superbly volleyed in from all of 20 yards.
But it proved to be a false dawn and Lynn�s abject afternoon was completed in time added on when Farsley substitute Jake Speight turned his marker in the box to hammer home a fourth goal.
Lynn: Howie, Weaver (Fisk 18), C. Defty, Peters (Kelly 25), Crane, Smith, Frew, Mitchell, J. Defty, Bloomfield (Turner 58), Francis. Subs (not used): Joachim, Murray.
Goal: Mitchell (73).
Farsley Celtic: Aspden, Stabb, Serrant, Iqbal, Knowles (Price 64), Penford, James (Prendergast 80), Krief, Campbell (Speight 72), Walshaw, Tuck. Subs (not used): Jackson, Backhouse.
Bookings: Tuck, Walshaw, Aspden.
Goals: Walshaw (25, 26), Knowles (59), Speight (90).
Referee: D. Plowright (Notts). Attendance: 1,121. MoM: Scott Howie.