King's Lynn 2 Bristol City 2
26th November 1960
RIGHT HALF Alan Dunn will not forget his first goal for Lynn - neither will the thousands of spectators who went wild with joy when he shot the ball into the Bristol net to earn Lynn a richly deserved replay in this F.A. Cup second round tie. Scored in the dying seconds of a thrilling match, his goal gives Lynn another chance to get through to the third round and will most certainly result in the club receiving several hundred pounds more. It was perhaps the most valuable goal ever scored for Lynn.
Alan was the man fortunate enough to get the ball into the net and earn Lynn their due reward for a great team performance. To pull back from being two goals down in the first ten minutes against a side such as Bristol City speaks for itself Lynn mere great a credit to the club and the town.
In the dressing room after words as the players celebrated with champagne. Manager Len Richley told me: "We fought not with kick and rush methods, but by sheer football. I am very proud of the boys; they did very well:"
A11 Lynn supporters can be proud of them. too. They refused to be rattled by their disastrous start and by playing good football gradually gained the upper hand. In fact they had got on top by the interval and with a little better finishing could have reduced their deficit by then.
The second half was Lynn's exclusively. They attacked continuously and almost played their League opponents into the ground. What a wonderful thrill it was to see Lynn whose successes in Southern League football has been so limited this season dictate the course of the game with such confidence.
Who will ever forget those thrilling final stages? With only six minutes to go Lynn were still trailing 0-2 but keeping up their efforts to save the game. Then from the right Tony Chilleystone sent over another of the many long centres which had plied across the Bristol goalmouth.
Ron Sharp received it and chipped it back into the centre where Ray Dixon had the bad luck to head against the crossbar. It seemed that Lynn's luck was right out - but this time TERRY SEWELL got to the ball and with limited space in the goal area managed to hook it in.
The crowd rose to their feet and let out a roar that must have been heard all over Lynn. But even this was surpassed in the last minute when ALAN DUNN rammed the ball home from close in. to equalise.
Lynn forced a corner- one of many conceded by the hard-pressed Bristol defenders during the second half and as Chilleystone places the ball for the kick all the Lynn players: with the exception of Mick Manning moved up into the Bristol penalty area.
The ball floated over near the goal, but goalkeeper Cook failed to clear effectively and the ball fell down in the six yard area where there seemed more Lynn players than any and there was Dunn with the ball at his feet. In a flash he shot it home and suddenly the Walks was alive with excitement.
Those last six minutes were the highlights from Lynn's point of view. But what of the remainder of the match? It was a memorable one without doubt.
Lynn launched the first attack and Collinson had to move quickly to take the ball and prevent Dixon breaking through. Then Bristol began to move with speed and skill which put Lynn's defenders on their toes. They looked extremely dangerous near the Lynn penalty area, and the first cheer of the match came for Mick Manning who made a brilliant flying save from Etheridge whose surprise 25 yard drive looked a "goal" all the way.
The crowd were soon to be silenced. however, for in the space of a minute Bristol swept into a two-goal lead. After nine minutes Tait. Bristol's ever-menacing leader. took a good bass from Rogers And sent the ball low across field to ATYEO who promptly turned it in.
A minute later ROGERS made a great solo run from the half-way line, weaving his way in towards goal all the time, and when, just inside the penalty area slipped the ball to Atyeot ran on to a quick return pass and crashed the ball low into the net off a post, giving Manning absolutely no chance.
The ease with which Bristol scored these two quick goals gave rise to the fear that they might over-run Lynn. But Lynn defenders soon learned their lesson. They tightened up their marking to such an extent that Bristol's youthful left wing pair were played almost completely out of the game by skipper Gerry Mackey the most outstanding defender on the field - and Alan Dunn. Atyeo was given a hard game by Mick Johnson and Tait found little scope against Bill Clearv.
Before half-time both Dixon and Sewell might have reduced Lynn's deficit with a little more luck. The best chance fell to Dixon who had the goal at his mercy on receiving a shrewd pass from Sewell.
In delaying his shot, however, Dixon gave Thresher the chance to cover up on the line and his shot was kicked clear. On another occasion Sewell was robbed in the nick of time when about to shoot with the goalkeeper out of position.
Another roar went up from the Hospital end terracing when Casey turned away a centre from Baxter. The crowd supported players in their appeals for a penalty for hands, but the referee ignored them all and awarded a corner.
In the second half Lynn carried the play to the Bristol end relentlessly and Cook became one of the busiest men on the field. However, try as they might, Lynn could not find the net. Sewell sent a rasping drive across goal and just wide, then Dixon, having dispossessed Cook near the foot of post, failed to pass hard enough towards the centre of the goal and the ball was hurriedly scooped away for a corner.
Johnson sent a low drive narrowly wide and Chilleystone fired into the side netting, Dixon sent a header wide and from one of his centres Sewell headed just over the top.
And so it went on with Lynn pressing but just not being able to finish off their often brilliant moves. Hopes of saving the game almost went completely, when in one of their few attacks Bristol almost scored again. Manning raced out to try to foil Rogers, but the clever Bristol winger chipped the ball over him and into the centre of the goalmouth. In trying to clear Mackey sliced the ball towards his own goal, but fortunately Cleary was there to kick r4way.
A goal then would most certainly have ended Lynn's hopes, but instead they rose as Lynn stepped up their pressure and finally succeeded in snatching those two memorable goals.
King's Lynn; Manning: Mcckey Wilson: Dunn. Cleary, Johnson; Baxter. Chilleystone, Dixon, Sewell. Sharp.
Bristol City: Cook; Collinson. Thresher: Etheridge. Connor, Casey: Rogers. Atyeo. Tait, Williams R. Derrick.
Attendance: 6,762.