THE Linnets have moved up to within three points of leaders Stamford and Salisbury, who have games in hand over Lynn.
Hopes of a goal-fest attracted Lynn's largest league crowd of the season on Saturday, but fans had to settle for a single goal in a difficult match that saw probably the fastest booking in the club's history. 
The 757-strong crowd saw Lynn's ninth league game in a row unbeaten, and a run of ten wins including the Dr Martens Cup. Despite efforts to protect the pitch from the recent spell of bad weather, it was muddy and sandy. This combined with the defensive approach taken by Ashford Town made it a hard game for the Linnets, who got a well-deserved win thanks to Carl Holmes. 
Just five seconds after kick-off Adam Weston was booked for a tackle on Ashford's Simon Elliott. However, the yellow card didn't put him off, and Weston put in one of the better performances in a Lynn shirt. 

Ashford had the first chance of the game in the 14th minute with a shot from Sammy Saunders, but it was Lynn skipper Glen Fuff who nearly scored in the 27th minute. From Paul Raynor's corner Fuff's header skimmed the crossbar. 
In the absence of Dave Staff, Jordan Blyth made his first Linnets start, and he saw an effort cleared off the line. 
Lynn came out stronger in the second half, and looked as if they would get two or three goals, but Ashford's strong defending kept them at bay. 
Raynor and Blyth performed a brilliant one-two for another near-miss, and Paul Watts missed a great chance after coming on for Chris Bacon. In the 66th minute a shot by Blyth, blocked by an Ashford defender, looked to have crossed the goal line but was ruled no-goal. But in the 76th minute Holmes slid the ball firmly into the net following a bad back-pass. Holmes, whose booking means he will miss one match, had another good shot which went wide.

Lynn: Wilson, Jones, Cowling, Burrows, Fuff, Holmes, Weston, Raynor, Bacon (Watts 57), Blyth (Ortega 79), Blake. Subs (not used) Blois, Belton, Nobes
Ashford: Whitehouse, Anderson, O'Brien (Hill 79), Gibbs. O'Leary, Saunders (Hallett 75), Elliot (Skinner 22) Gardner, Hassett, Stone, McRobert.Subs (not used) Taylor.
Att: 757 Referee: McPerson (Sutton)