Crawley 3 King's Lynn 0

26th August 2000

LINNETS manager Gary Mills blasted his side's lack of quality in the final third as Lynn tumbled to their first league defeat of the season.
The Linnets forced 14 corners, but only had one shot on target and Mills felt his side had got what they deserved.
"It wasn't a good performance," he commented. "The quality in the last third was abysmal. We were always giving the ball away in those positions."
Mills felt his side had matched their hosts in the opening 30 minutes, but was unhappy about Emeka Nwadike conceding a penalty eight minutes before halftime.
"He gave away the penalty needlessly by tugging his shirt. I've no complaints about the penalty, but it disappointed me," he continued.
"We laid down after that, which also disappointed me. It wasn't a good day for us. We got what we deserved.
"But if it's going to happen, let's get it out the way early on. We've got to put it right. We have got to come back from things like this and show what character we have got."
With Tommy Wright sidelined with a groin strain, Jon Palmer was moved out to the left with Lyndon Rowland coming in to partner Dave Puttnam in attack.
But Puttnam looked to be Lynn's only creative influence in front of goal, however, he lacked support and Crawley created the best openings as home goalkeeper Andy Little was rarely tested.
Chuck Martini saved well from Dave Powell and Keith Sharman, but was left stranded by a speculative shot from Powell which rattled the upright.
Dave Robinson then produced a last ditch tackle to thwart Mark Hynes before Crawley took the lead on 37 minutes.
Nwadike pulled the shirt of Hynes as looked to get on the end of a cross and Dean Wordsworth stepped up to send Martini the wrong way from the resultant penalty.
The lead was doubled just before the hour when Andy Bullimore's poor first touch allowed Matt Woolf to nip in and collect the loose ball before curling home a great effort from 20 yards.
Lynn's only shot on target came after 6& minutes when Palmer's good run and shot ended with a good save by Little.
Glen Fuff then blocked substitute Nigel Brake's surge through the middle before Crawley sealed the match when Hynes deflected Wordsworth's shot past Martini.
Martini still had to be at his best to prevent a fourth in the last minute when he denied Hynes in a one-on-one.
"We were always chasing the game," added Mills. "We made let them look a good side.
"They have some big players and use them well. They are hard to deal with, but I don't think they are a particularly good side. We just let them play in the second half."
Crawley: A. Little, K. Sharman, M.Woolf, A. Taylor (R. McAree 54), M. Pullan, J. Ugbah, D. Carroll, L. Anderson, D. Wordsworth, M. Hynes, D. Powell (N. Brake 72). Sub not used: F. Vines.
Lynn: C. Martini, G. Mills, D. Robinson, A. Bullimore (C. Clark 62), G. Fuff, J. March (L. Gibson 69), E. Nwadike, S. Dakin, J. Palmer, D. Puttnam (S. Bush 80), L. Rowland.
Att: 788.

MATCH STATISTICS	Shots on Target	Shots off Target	Corners	Caught Offside	Free kicks Conceded	Bookings
Lynn	1	5	14	6	12
Crawley	8	7	11	4	18