Dorchester Town 2 King's Lynn 1
19th December 1998
LINNETS suffered a double injury blow as they crashed to the bottom of the league for Christmas.Striker Lee Wilson, scorer of Lynn's goal, had to leave the field after pulling a hamstring 12 minutes from time before Paul Ramsey followed him with a dead leg.
"The injuries are a massive blow," said manager Gary Mills. "Lee could be out for four to six weeks while we will have to wait to see the extent of Paul's dead leg."
Mills was already without Micky Nuttell, Wilson's strike partner, and Lee Gibson going into Saturday's game.
These latest set backs have left the Linnets boss with very few options going into the crucial Christmas programme which starts on Boxing Day at home to Boston United.
Mills said, "I am going to see whether I can get two or perhaps three new faces in but this isn't the easiest time of the season to attract new players.
"When you're at the bottom of the league it's easy to blame things on injuries but teams at the top are just as capable of picking up knocks as well.
"We have just got to roll our sleeves up and be positive. There are nine points to play for over Christmas and we have to believe we can get them."
Lynn rarely looked like picking up an early Christmas present on Saturday, even after Wilson had given them a glimmer of hope with a 56th minute equaliser.
Dorchester ripped Lynn to shreds down the right for most of the afternoon while Chuck Martini made up for his uncertainty on crosses with some fine saves in the second half.
"I didn't think we played particularly well although at 1-1 I thought we looked stronger than them," said Mills, who is becoming increasingly concerned with the number of goals Lynn have been leaking recently.
"Apart from Carmichael's strike for Boston in the League Cup, the goals we have let in against Gresley, Tamworth and Dorchester have been from our own doing.
"It's just basic errors and, on Saturday, Craig Clark knows he should have cleared the ball in the stands but in the end he has given it away and they have scored the winner."
Lynn were the better side in the opening exchanges before the hosts began to dominate proceedings.
The pace of full-backs Martyn Sullivan and Chris Ferrett were a constant them in Lynn's side and it came as no surprise when the Magpies took the lead in the 40th minute.
A quick free-kick by Sullivan was headed out only as far as Cross, who controlled the ball on his chest before shooting past Martini.
Lynn's equaliser came as a result of a fine save by the former Moroccan international. After he had pushed Sufyan Ghazghazi's shot on to the bar, the ball was cleared to Dave Puttnam, who threaded a ball through to Wilson. He twisted his way past two defenders before finding the back of the net to end a classic counter-attack.
Clark's mistake at the back enabled Martin Shepherd to fire Dorchester back in front in the 78th minute and only the late efforts of Martini and goal-line clearances by Mark Turner and Colin Hoyle kept the final score respectable. Lynn: Martini, Follet, Spearing, Hoyle, Clark, Turner, Robinson, Ramsey (Cotterell 88), Palmer, Puttnam, Wilson (McGinty 81). Sub (not used) Fuff.
Dorchester: Maloy, Sullivan, Ferret, Coates, Harris, Cross, Ghazghazi, Murray, O'Hagan, Shepherd, Lovell. Subs (not used) Rice, Groves, Cooper.
| MATCH STATISTICS | Shots on Target | Shots off Target | Corners | Caught Offside | Free kicks Conceded |
Bookings |
| Lynn | 4 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 9 | Ramsey (29, foul) |
| Dorchester | 11 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 11 |