Gresley 2 King's Lynn 0
19th November 2011
DEFEATED Linnets boss Gary Setchell admitted his side missed the services of injured striker Jack Defty after making an early exit from the FA Vase on Saturday.
After reaching the semi-finals of the same competition last season, the Walks outfit were dumped out at the earliest possible stage this time around.
A first half goal from Richard Hanslow was added to by Royce Turville deep in stoppage time as Lynn surged forward in search of an equaliser after dominating long spells of the second period.
But the Linnets lacked their usual cutting edge in the final third of the field and Setchell said: "We sorely missed Jack (Defty) in both boxes today.
"He really would have made a difference at both ends of the field, especially with the amount of balls we put in the Gresley box during the second half.
"We did everything right in our general play in the second half but when the ball came into the Gresley penalty area we weren't clinical enough.
"In the end we have gone out to a very good side. Gresley were the better side on the day and deserve their place in the next round."
Gresley boss Gary Norton said: "I felt we played some decent stuff and Gary (Hateley) our goalkeeper hasn't had a save to make.
"We were penned in our half in the last 15 or 20 minutes of the second half but I felt we deserved the victory and all of our lads deserve a pat on the back after putting in a shift today.
"King's Lynn enjoyed a lot of possession and were very comfortable on the ball but they couldn't break us down."
The only goal of a scrappy first half came in the 32nd minute when Dean Oliver�s pass caught the Lynn defence napping and Hanslow raced onto his pass before slotting home.
At the start of the second half, James Jepson�s corner found Barrett at the far post, who headed back only to see his effort hit the far post.
Midway through the half Jepson saw his shot blocked before Jamie Thurbourne fired wide at the other end.
Jamie Thurbourne saw Jordi Gough clear off the line as Lynn stepped up their search for an equaliser by winning a succession of corners.
Street saved well from Jepson as Gresley managed to break Lynn�s hold on the game.
Lynn then forced another succession of corners � this time seven of them in the space of a couple of minutes.
One resulted in Stephen Spriggs chesting the ball narrowly wide while Dan Buhlemann headed Jamie Thurbourne�s corner wide with Ross Watson injuring himself in the box.
Gresley weathered the storm resolutely and sewed the match up three minutes into added time. Oliver did well to get the better of his marker on the halfway line and sprinted down the right.
He looked up to see substitute Royce Turville racing through the middle and into the area.
Oliver sent across the most inviting ball and Turville duly slammed the ball into the net.
Gresley: Hateley, Langford, Gough, Barrett, Nottingham, Spencer (Betteridge 22), Lyons, Jepson, Hanslow (Turville 87), Oliver, Goodfellow (Dillon 76). Subs not used: Barrow, Keeling.
King�s Lynn Town: Street, Bexfield (Coe 83), Yong, Watson (Fryatt 85), Buhlemann, Hughes, Spriggs, L. Thurlbourne, Harris, Beaumont (White 70), J. Thurlbourne. Subs not used: Wall, Hails.
Referee: N. Mason (Sheffield). Attendance: 419. MoM: Jordan Yong.