King's Lynn 1 Soham Town Rangers 0
20th October 1982
EIGHTY-four goalless minutes into this dour East Anglian Cup tie came the announcement spectators and players alike had probably been dreading.Up piped a less than enthusiastic voice on the loudspeaker system to threaten us with two 15minute periods of extra time in the event of there being no score at the end of the allotted 90 minutes.
Sixty seconds later Ray Elliott put us all out of our misery by firing home from close range. Thank you Ray. He was the man who put the Linnets on the road to success last Saturday in the FA Cup.
Admittedly conditions were not easy for players on either side, but that's really no excuse for such dull and uninspired stuff.
Soham did the usual Cup "minnows" trick of packing everyone behind the ball, praying Lynn didn't score early on and hoping to snatch a winner on the break.
Well there certainly didn't appear to be any chance of the Linnets scoring early or late on.
Elliott did test the Soham keeper with a rare shot, but he was not found wanting.
Martin Wiles put a free header over the bar from close range and had another effort saved. Easthall, full of running as ever, tried to walk a couple of chances into the net when he should have blasted away on sight.
Back in the Lynn penalty area. Richard Johnston was on hand to make a goalmouth clearance after Drewery failed to hold on to a low shot through the mud and water.
Martin Lindsay was one of the few Lynn players who stood out in the match, keeping a cool head on young shoulders and pushing up well into enemy territory on occasions. Craig Thompson also battled hard.
Soham got the ball in the back of the Lynn net 15 minutes after the break, but their joy was short lived as the referee awarded a free kick for foot-up on the keeper.
Rudd came on for the ineffective Chapman and Lynn continued to dominate proceedings but failed to take their chances, until Elliott's close range shot was deflected in five minute from time.
Lynn are at home to Lowestoft in the FA Trophy on Saturday.
Keeley, Watts, Hodgson and Bircumshaw are likely to play, and their names can be added to Wednesday night's squad of Drewery, McJannet, Lindsay, B. Thomson. Wiles, Johnson, Easthall, C. Thompson, Chapman, Elliott, Burrows and Rudd, for Saturday's match.