Sittingbourne 1 King's Lynn 2

24th January 2004

With leaders Tonbridge not in action, Lynn reduced the gap to two points at the top of the Dr Martens League Eastern Division.
On a sandy pitch, The Walks outfit were 2-0 up on 55 minutes when Watkins did his best to even up matters by tangling with Dean Yorath and kicking out in front of the home dugout, which predictably reacted with outrage.
The hosts did not benefit from the one-man advantage they had for 35 minutes until scoring just before the end.
On the win, which stretched Lynn's unbeaten run to nine matches, joint caretaker boss Darren Bloodworth said: "We didn't start very brightly but after the first 20 minutes I thought there looked like only one winner.
"All the matches are going to be tough between now and the end of the season as teams will raise their game against us, but it was paramount that we got the win on Saturday.
"We've been done on a silly set piece for their goal, but the actual performance from the players after we went down to 10 men was superb."
On Watkins' dismissal, Bloodworth said: "Dale has kicked out after being held down, but the reaction of the Sittingbourne bench made the incident seem a lot worse than what it actually was."
The performance was not up to Lynn's usual recent standard, but they have acquired the knack of picking up points when not playing well.
Sittingbourne, who had scored just once in their previous five games, bossed the first half-hour and pinned the Linnets back.
The first opportunity of the afternoon fell in the second minute to Steve Rutter, who headed straight at Lynn keeper Steve Wilson. Sittingbourne had further chances in the first ten minutes, Wilson shouting for the ball but Gary Setchell playing it which led to Neal's shot rebounding off Setchell. Another deflection, this time off Jamie March, went just past the post.
Lynn took half-an-hour to get a shot on target, Paul Raynor's free-kick being saved. Soon after Jack Defty lofted the ball into the box and Watkins' first-time volley sailed over the bar.
But on 33 minutes Raynor was fouled on the left and his free-kick was met by a powerful header from Carl Holmes to give the Linnets the lead.
Holmes' deflected effort almost reached Watkins, but on 38 minutes Gooding sprung the offside trap, however Wilson advanced well to block his shot and tip Neal's follow-up on to the post.
Early in the second half two incidents involving James Campbell proved costly for Sittingbourne. Firstly the home defender headed at Wilson.
Then he provoked an episode on 51 minutes which may well turn up in a future David Seaman's Goalkeeping Nightmares video. Campbell passed back to keeper Kevin Fewell, who swung at the ball and missed.
This presented David Staff with the simple task of rolling the ball into the net.
But then came Watkins' moment of madness.
The Brickies could not take advantage until four minutes from the end when Lynn's weakness on set-pieces was again exposed when sub Michael Smissen bundled in a corner.
Sittingbourne: Sewell, Taylor (Smissen 65), Yorath, Lye, Campbell (Ainsworth 85), Coyle, Gooding, Marsh, Neal, Smith, Rutter (Berry 45). Subs (not used): Beeney, Dowley.
Lynn: Wilson, Jones, March, Setchell, Fuff, Raynor, Defty, Holmes, Staff, Watkins, Camm. Subs (not used): Harris, Bacon, Woodrow, Nobes.
Attendance: 257. Referee: J Bottomer (Chislehurst)

MATCH STATISTICS	Shots on Target	Shots off Target	Corners	Caught Offside	Free kicks Conceded	Bookings/S-off
Lynn	3	2	3	3	10	Wilson Raynor (retaliation 37) March (kicking ball away 43) Setchell (foul 90) Watkins (retalliation 22)
Sittingbourne	6	3	5	6	15	Yorath (handball 20) Gooding (kicking 37)
Lynn News Man of the Match - Gary Setchell