Folkestone Invicta 1 King's Lynn 2
31st March 2001
A BRACE from Jon Palmer, including a penalty, saw Linnets win, but new signing Paul Raynor proclaimed his innocence after being sent off on his debut.Raynor, who signed from local rivals Boston United late on Thursday, was dismissed in the 63rd minute for elbowing Folkestone's Steve Smith, who also saw red in the same incident, after throwing a punch in retaliation.
The midfielder, who has starred for a host of league clubs, as well as the Pilgrims, Kettering and Ilkeston on the non-league circuit, was adamant in his denials and told the Lynn News: "I didn't touch him. I was holding him off with my arms but the referee has said I've elbowed him while doing so."
Manager Tony Spearing also stuck up for the no-nonsense midfielder, who was an ever present in Boston's Conference campaign up until his signing for Lynn.
"I know he got sent off, but I thought Paul was unlucky today and from where I was sitting I never saw anything."
But while Raynor's 63minute stay on the pitch lasted, he did enough to show what a useful asset he will be, as did Lynn's other new addition, Zeke Rowe, whose movement and pace caused numerous problems for the home defence.
"I thought Zeke was in a different league at times, " said Spearing. "He did very well and got better as the game went on, when we played similar to how we usually play.'
On Raynor, the Linnets boss said: "What you saw of Paul today was only 50 per cent of what he is capable of.
"He's a good player and gets at opponents and I knew that when I signed him. He's the sort of player that makes teams tick."
Lynn didn't play well for long periods of the contest, but Palmer's double was enough to see them equal their best run for 15 months and move them to fifth position in the table - their highest placing this season.
Spearing, a clear contender for manager of the month, was delighted with the win and said: "In the end we over-ran them and to be honest I never felt we were in danger. We actually did better when we were reduced to 10 men.
"It wasn't a vintage performance from us but we had new players in and it disrupted us a little in the first half.
Palmer buried the memories of his penalty miss against Welling the previous week, by opening the scoring from the spot in the second minute, after Rowe had been shoved over in the box.
After blazing numerous efforts over the bar, Palmer eventually found his shooting range in the 71st minute, when he let fly with a glorious left-foot volley, which flew into the top corner of the Folkestone net.
Had it not been for a fine save from Folkestone keeper Dave Wietecha, and the woodwork late on, then Palmer would have been celebrating his second treble of the season.
Folkestone had levelled matters ten minutes into the second period, when Dent headed home a James Virgo free kick at the back post.
Desperate for points, the home side did have other chances too, but unfortunately for them, they found Chuck Martini in miserly mood.
The Moroccan kept them at bay with a string of fine saves, with a double stop to deny Nicky Dent the pick of the crop.
Lynn: Martini, Dakin, Clark, Robinson, Fuff, Raynor, Anderson, Hayes, Rowe, Jones (Wright 72), Palmer. Subs not used. McNeil, Puttnam.
Folkestone: D. Wietecha, A. Morris, J. Virgo, A. Larkin (J. Ross 76 , S. White, M. Chandler, A. Hogg (J. Ayling 83), P. Chambers, J. Dryden, N. Dent, S. Smith. Not used: D. Winfield.
Att: 294.
| MATCH STATISTICS | Shots on Target | Shots off Target | Corners | Caught Offside | Free kicks Conceded |
Bookings/S-Off |
| Lynn | 5 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 21 | Jones (56, infringing) Raynor (63, elbow)  |
| Folkestone | 10 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 23 | Chandler (40, foul) Smith (63, violent conduct)  |