Stamford 2 King's Lynn 1

31st July 2010

TOWN joint boss Gary Setchell remained upbeat despite seeing his side suffer their first friendly defeat - a week before the start of the new league campaign.
The Walks outfit were undone by a late Ross Watson strike in Lincolnshire after second half substitute Billy Smith had levelled Stamford's first half opener through ex-Linnet Tony Battersby. Setchell said: "We absolutely battered Stamford footballing wise and restricted them to three efforts on goal, but our final ball in the last third of the field let us down at times today and in the end we were punished for not taking our chances.
"We need to be a bit more ruthless in and around the box and maybe today's result will be a wake-up call for one or two of the players and show them that we are not invincible.
"Stamford will be there or thereabouts in their league and they were just that half a yard sharper than any of the teams we have played so far.
"I was delighted how we competed with a big, strong, physical side and I thought our back four were magnificient."
Fellow joint boss Kevin Boon said: "We have enjoyed a really good pre-season and it's gone better than we could ever have imagined.
"The players have gelled together really quickly, but these results count for nothing and we will be judged on what we do at Long Buckby in the league next Saturday That will be judgement day" Town can count themselves unlucky that they did not complete a fine pre-season unbeaten.
Evo-Stik Division One South side Stamford took the lead in the 13th minute through a soft goal when Alex Street was beaten at his near post by Battersby. Lynn had one effort cleared off the line and dominated the corner count against their higher-league hosts.
Town camped inthe Stamford half for long periods of the second half but had to wait until the 75th minute until Smith struck from close range.
But three minutes later Stamford regained the lead when Town failed to clear their lines and Watson drilled home what proved to be the winning goal. Stamford: Wright, Watson, King, Sedgemore, Chamberlain, Malone, Roberts, Weston, Battersby, Mowbray, Sheridan. Subs (all used): Hook, Beeson, Jackson, Toyne.
King's Lynn Town: Street, Buhlemann, Alsop, L. Thurlbourne, McNeil, Plumb, Doherty, Kelly, J. Defty, Cubberley, J.
Thurlbourne. Subs (all used): Smith, Harris, C. Defty, Newton, White, Hails. Referee: Carl Henry (Northampton). Attendance: 161