King's Lynn 1 St Leonards 1

22nd March 2003

THE Linnets' failure to dispatch the league's bottom side in a poor game shows how much they miss Paul Raynor.'
He may have taken some stick recently over his sending-off at Eastbourne which caused him to miss this game, but Raynor showed by his absence why he is indispensable at present.
Without him Lynn had little game plan and no direction. No one was urging them, cajoling them or organising them.
Lynn scored their 100th goal of the season which was not enough to beat St Leonards, who had only registered six away points before Saturday
Neither side got to grips with a dry and bumpy itch, with the Saints scoring from their only chance of the first half, but Lynn soon levelled.
Lynn had the best of the first 30 minutes and had plenty of half chances, but did not take them well.
The closest the Linnets got was David Staff's free-kick going inches wide of the post on 14 minutes, and a minute later Adam Weston could not control the ball from close range and shot weakly.
The hosts were punished when the Saints scored with their first chance of the game after 32 minutes. Teenager Kym Monroe's persistence paid off when he took advantage of two mistakes by Lynn defender Adam Jones to loop the ball into the net.
Within ten minutes the home team equalised. After having an effort tipped around the post by Saints keeper Greg Nessling, Chris Bacon fired home from an acute angle on the right of the box.
Neither side could break through in a sloppy second half, with St Leonards superb skipper Sean Ray snuffing out most of the Lynn attacks.
Five minutes after the break Nessling tipped a Staff free-kick around the post, and he denied the same player midway through the second period.

There was little incident until three minutes from time when the Linnets' Jack Defty flicked on a Staff corner and Mark Burrows blazed over the bar.
Immediately the Saints could have stolen the points with three late chances. Monroe, who was St Leonards' only threat, forced a good block from home keeper Steve Wilson and Defty cleared.
Then Tyrone Roberts and Jimmy Elford both shot high and wide when well-placed down the middle. Lynn: Wilson, Jones (Blake 51), Holyoak, Burrows, Fuff, Defty, Weston, Woodrow (Blyth 77), Bacon, Staff, Holmes. Subs not used: Cowling, Harvey, Nobes.
St Leonards: G. Nessling, B. Watson, R. Matthews (P Henty 63), D. Minnis, S. Ray, A. Paterson, T Roberts, J. Elford, J. Scott, M. Morgan, K. Monroe. Not used: J. Ricketts.
Att: 569. Referee: C Francis (Little Downham, Cambs FA).

MATCH STATISTICS	Shots on Target	Shots off Target	Corners	Caught Offside	Free kicks Conceded	Bookings
Lynn	5	7	5	0	13
St Leonards	2	4	2	2	20	Roberts (82 foul) Ray (88 time-wasting)