King's Lynn 0 Bath City 2

29th January 2005

Two second half goals condemned the Linnets to their third successive defeat and all but ended their play-off hopes for this season.
And unless Tommy Taylor's troops soon learn the art of defending, they could soon find themselves embroiled in a relegation battle in the weeks ahead.
After the game Linnets manager Tommy Taylor said: "You have to be worried don't you? We are losing touch with the sides above us and if you are not winning games you have to at least avoid getting beaten.
"That is three defeats on the bounce now. I hate losing and expect to see the same from my players.
The Walks outfit once again dominated the first period, but wasteful finishing and the heroics of Bath City keeper Paul Evans kept them at bay.
But it was an all too familiar story after the break as a resilient Bath side took advantage of some poor positioning from Steve Wilson and a Lynn side short on confidence all over the pitch.
Once Bath opened their account too many Lynn players went into hiding and lost their shape, a point not lost on Taylor.
"We lost our shape and I was unhappy with our wide players in the second half. "Instead of tucking in they allowed Bath to dictate in the middle of the park where the player/manager (Gary Owers) pulled all of the strings.
"We didn't get down the flanks enough, our front players got more isolated and we ended up hitting long balls for the strikers to chase."
The performances of striker Darran Hay and Simon Clark at the back were the only plus points of another disappointing afternoon.
Hay came within inches of making a dream start to his debut in the first minute, only to be foiled by a brave save by Evans, who also denied Sam McMahon a certain goal with an acrobatic stop in the 12th minute.
Lynn penalty appeals were turned down five minutes later when Jim Rollo appeared to block McMahon's drive with his hands.
Bath grew in confidence as the half wore on and carried their newfound confidence into the second half.
The fumbling Wilson was relieved to see Alex Sykes' shot drift the wrong side of his post soon after the restart before Hay had a header ruled out for offside midway through the second period.
Bath opened the scoring five minutes later when former Coventry City star John Williams audaciously lobbed the stranded Wilson.
There was little Wilson and his defence could do about The Romans' second goal in the 80th minute when Sykes unleashed a 25-yard thunderbolt into the top of the net.
Lynn: Wilson, Camm, Blake, Hammond, Clark, Defty (Quistin 77), Holmes, McMahon, Hay, Bloomfield (Ward 71), Angel (Bacon 84). Subs not used: Chick and Higgs. Booked: Hammond.
Bath: P. Evans, J. Rollo, G. Power, M. Coupe, S. Bailey, B. Ford, D. Hawkins, G. Owers, B. Cleverley (R. Milton 74), J. Williams, A. Sykes. Not used: J. Benefield, L. Corbett, T. Wood, R. Hulbert. Booked: Coupe, Bailey, Williams.
Att: 915; MoM: Simon Clark.
Referee: M. George (Norfolk)