Sittingbourne 1 King's Lynn 2
28th December 2002
THE Linnets bounced back from their Boxing Day mauling by Histon to give manager Peter Morris victory in his 200th match in charge.Striker Lee Stephenson, with his first goal away from The Walks this season, and Carl Holmes were on the mark with early goals in each half to, extend Lynn's unbeaten away run to four matches.
Lynn took just four minutes to wipe away the memories of the Histon humiliation when Stephenson showed great skill before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the far corner of the Sittingbourne net.
But Lynn's lead lasted all of three minutes before poor marking from a short corner allowed Paul Campbell to net with a low drive.
Still shaken from their stuffing two days earlier, the Linnets had to withstand a short spell of home pressure, with Dean Greygoose making a smart save and another Sittingbourne effort scraping the Lynn bar.
To make matters worse, the Walks outfit then lost Lee Cowling (ankle) and Jack Defty (knee) with nasty injuries in the space of a few minutes. Lynn regrouped and Stephenson went close to adding a second with a smart turn and shot five minutes before the break.
Sittingbourne went back on the attack and only a smart save from Greygoose denied them a half-time lead.
Two minutes after the break, Stephenson crossed from the right and found the unmarked Holmes, who made no mistake with the finish despite looking suspiciously offside.
The home side fought back well and forced Greygoose into two fine stops, while at the other end Stephenson, a constant thorn in Sittingbourne's side, continued to cause problems with his fine movement off the ball.
Mark Burrows, Holmes and Adam Jones were all booked, with the latter lucky to stay on the pitch after a scathing challenge on Campbell.
Sittingbourne continued to press hard, but unlike two days earlier, Greygoose and his defence stood firm. Lynn: Greygoose, Jones, Cowling (Blois 23), Burrows, Fuff, Defty lake 39), Weston, Raynor, Bacon, Stephenson (Watts 89), Holmes. Subs not used: Dobrowolski and Harris.
Attendance: 234.
Man-of-the-match: Lee Stephenson.