King's Lynn 14 Chatteris 1
29th September 1951
COMPLETELY out-manoeuvring, out-pacing and out-witting their opponents from the Peterborough League, Lynn Town ran riot in the second half of their F.A. cup tie with Chatteris Town at the Walks on Saturday and netted eleven times to the visitors' once. It was in this period that 'the greater experience and better training of the Linnets told against the all-amateur combination from. Cambridgeshire and had it not been for some good goalkeeping by Hicks, the score might well have been far bigger.
At no time were Lynn at full stretch; they just cantered through the game, bewildering the Chatteris defence with smooth approach work and clever ball play. It all seemed so easy, that once Lynn had started on their goal rush, the score mounted so rapidly at times, that spectators must have lost count. Some of the players, even, were not sure of the final result, or who had scored all the goals.
Most Lynn supporters fully expected their team to win handsomely. I personally felt that Lynn, on form, should win by about 10 clear goals, but no-one, I imagine, had dared to think that such a final score as 14-1 would be realised, especially in a competition for which Chatteris have such a reputation as giant killers. However, on the day's play Lynn fully demonstrated the vast gap between Eastern Counties League and Peterborough League football, and forcibly impressed upon people's minds the uneasiness with which players promoted from the Reserves must feel when turning out with the first team.
The game opened in sensational style, with Lynn taking the lead in the first minute. Isbill pushed a ball through the middle and Howard, attempting to clear, sliced it up in front of goal. Hicks hesitated about going for it and Whitelum, unchallenged, turned it into the net on the volley.
This, most people thought, was the beginning of a riot. But Chatteris had other ideas. They fought back with spirit, and occasionally produced some nice moves, but were comfortably held. The only shot which Hooper dealt with in the first 15 minutes came from a long drive from Taylor.
Lynn, with the wing halves dominating the middle of the field, then came well into the picture with almost sustained attacks on the Chatteris goal. Time and time again other goals seemed imminent as Lynn glided into the offensive, but the forwards played right into the hands of a defence which constantly packed the goalmouth.
None of the Lynn forwards seemed prepared to have a quick shot at goal. They did too much passing in front of goal and wasted precious time in tapping the ball into a better shooting position, with the result that their efforts were always blocked.
It was not until the 33rd minute that they scored their second goal. Morris made a clever run before slipping the ball through to Everitt. The centre forward passed it on to Whitelum who slammed the ball in from close range.
Two minutes later Isbill picked up a pass from Heagren, and finding himself unmarked and clear of the defence, who thought he was offside, hesitated before tapping the ball past Hicks. Lynn missed several other good opportunities before the interval, and Hicks made some fine saves.
The second half produced 12 goals and four others which were disallowed, three of them netted by Whitelum. Lynn dominated the play throughout and only very occasionally did Chatteris forwards make excursions into Lynn territory.
It was from one of then that they secured their consolation goal. Picking up a ball near the edge of the penalty area Purcell ran on toward goal and shot. It was quite a harmless-looking effort, but the ball kicked unexpectedly off the uneven surface in front of goal and glanced off Hooper's leg as he knelt to gather it up.
This goal came after Lynn had carried their total to five and was quickly followed by a regular, and at times almost monotonous goal-scoring response from Lynn. Opening up the game more than they had done in the first half, Lynn netted three in one four- minute spell and in the last 17 minutes added five more - one from each forward.
The complete score sheet was:
1 minute Whitelum.
33 minutes Whitelum.
35 minutes Isbill.
51 minutes Everitt.
52 minutes Whitelum.
53 minutes Purcell.
55 minutes Everitt.
60 minutes Dix.
62 minutes Whitelum.
64 minutes Dix.
73 minutes Dix.
77 minutes Whitelum.
81 Minutes Morris.
85 minutes Isbill.
87 minutes Everitt.
The ball was in the net 19 times altogether. Plus the 15 legitimate goals, Whitelum netted three disallowed for offside and Purcell another for Chatteris after the whistle had blown for a similar reason.
Cliff Whitelum maintained his record of scoring in each game. His five on Saturday takes his total in 12 games to 23.
Lynn : Hooper ; Bell, Stephens; Smith, Howe. G. Heagren; Morris, R. Isbill, Everitt, Whitelum C., Dix.
Chatteris: C. Hicks; R. Dawson, H. Boggers; L. Howard. D. King, G. Wilde; H. Allen, A. Adams, J. Purcell, N. Taylor, G. Bedford.