King's Lynn 3 Hucknall Town 0
28th October 2006
THE Linnets took their FA Cup prize fund tally to more than £21,000 as they booked a spot in the first round proper for the first time in nine years. Tommy Taylor's side made their higher-league opposition look ordinary, although it took two late goals from Lynn's Matty Nolan to deservedly book their place alongside the League One and Two clubs in Saturday's chaotic draw.
A delighted Taylor, who celebrated his 100th game in charge, said: "I think we got caught out with an early long throw, but that was about it.
"Other than at set-pieces they didn't really threaten us. Their biggest danger was the number 11, who had a bit of pace about him.
"I honestly didn't feel that they hurt us and their manager said that we deserved to go through.
"It was a bit nervy at 1-0, when it only takes a mistake or deflection for them to score.
"Matt O'Halloran could have easily had a hat-trick and I felt we were well on top until the last ten minutes of the first half when Hucknall created three or four good chances.
"Once we scored the game was always going to get stretched and that played into our hands. I told the front lads to play on their last man, keep firing balls into the channels and we could hit them on the counter attack."
Taylor also saluted the 1,300-strong crowd - Lynn's biggest of the season to date.
"The fans were brilliant," said Taylor.
"If we could get that kind of support and backing every other week then this club would easily be playing at a higher level.
"The atmosphere at the end drove the players on."
Lynn had many heroes on the pitch, but Mark Warren in the heart of the defence stood out, while Alex Notman orchestrated many of the Linnets' best chances.
Hucknall's Greg Smith was by far the busiest of the two keepers, denying Lynn on a number of ocassions.
Lynn dominated the early exchanges, Notman picking out O'Halloran for a header, before Notman testing the reflexes of the visiting keeper minutes later.
Smith collected a Jack Defty header from another Notman centre, but there was little he could do when the frontman fended off his marker before laying the ball off to Grant Cooper to crash home from the edge of the box.
The Hucknall shotstopper was called into action again just before the break when he pushed away Michael Frew's long-range pot.
Notman's vision picked out O'Halloran on the hour mark, but the ex-Boston man could only screw his effort wide with the whole goal in his sights.
Notman then rattled the Hucknall woodwork with a peach of a shot before the visitors were reduced to ten men when their skipper Paul Dempsey saw red for a second bookable offence.
The introduction of Nolan paid dividends as Hucknall surged forward in search of a leveller, Marshall twice called upon to make smart stops.
Nolan raced onto Defty's flick-on and nearly lost control of the ball in the box before firing home past Smith, who was left sprawled on the floor.
The euphoria from Lynn's second goal had hardly died down when Nolan burst through again to net, sparking wild celebrations amongst the Linnets faithful.
Lynn: Marshall, C. Defty (Harvey 90), Smith, Warren, Cooper, Camm, J. Defty, McMahon, Notman, Frew, O'Halloran (Nolan 56). Subs not used: Norris, Higgs. Goals: Cooper (17), Nolan (90, 90).
Hucknall: Smith, Briscoe, Legg, Cooke, Handyside, Dempsey, Wilson, Burns (Hearns 52), Birch, Moore (Fox 73), Williams. Not used: Hansen, Olanipekeyn, Beattie. Booked: Birch, Dempsey. Sent-off: Dempsey.
Attendance: 1,371; Referee: C.J. Miller (Kettering).
MoM: Alex Notman/Mark Warren - both fantastic.