football rambles

 A 42 minute penalty from Jesse Nwabueze was the difference between these two teams at the Walks on Saturday. Buxton seemed to turn up aiming to play for a draw and didn't really have a Plan B. It wasn't a classic by any means but it gave Lynn a third win in a row and they are now up to sixth, which isn't bad given that a lot of people had them down as relegation candidates at the start of the season.

 It all started so well for King's Lynn on Saturday. Ross Crane fired home on 12 minutes to give the Linnets the lead and they were on top for most of the first half and were the better team. All that was to change in the second half though. Four errors by Lynn gifted Marine victory in one of the biggest capitulations that I have seen in a long time. First Michael Clunan handled the ball in the box. Marine penalty and subsequently an equaliser. Then Reece Hall-Johnson lost his footing to gift Marine's George Kattah a clear run on goal and he didn't miss as Marine took the lead. Worse was still to come. Jesse Nwabueze was caught isolated on the left and lost the ball to Matty MacDonald who headed towards goal and made it 3-1. And just to round things off Lynn keeper Ronnie Hollingshead failed to clear the ball properly and Sonny Hilton got the fourth. A really poor performance in the second half and Lynn really need to do better next time out.

 Saturday saw the competitive football return with a very new look Linnets team taking on newly promoted Harborough Town. From the first look, I am expecting to see a lot of goals at the Walks this season (that's probably gone and cursed it), as attacking they look like they could be a force, although I thought they did look a bit vulnerable in defence.  The game almost got off to a lightening start when Tom Scott hit the post in the opening two minutes with a thunderous shot. Jesse Nwabueze also came close in the opening 10 minutes and was only denied by a spectacular save. However, on 13 minutes, it was Harborough who took the lead. A defensive mix up saw O'Sullivan for the visitors find space to rifle them into the lead. Lynn battled hard to get back on level terms and Jahmari Lindsay went close before the break. However, Harborough came closer to doubling their lead only to be denied by a Ronnie Hollingshead super save. The second half saw Harborough trying to take advanta...

 Saturday saw pre-season continue with King's Lynn taking on a young Norwich XI at The Walks. It was a good performance by the Linnets, although there were incidents that proved some of the issues that they had last season might persist in this one. In the opening half hour King's Lynn were the stronger of the two sides. They were rewarded with a penalty on 3o minutes when the dynamic Jesse Nwabueze was brought down in the box. However, Carlton Ubaezuonu squandered the opportunity with a soft penalty. Something that was reminiscent of last season where Lynn were regularly disappointing from the spot. Six minutes later the Canaries had the lead when Lynn were caught napping despite having most of the ball up until then - another trait that they need to curb. Ken Aboh giving the visitors the lead and it stayed like that until half-time.  Lynn came out firing in the second half though and Nwabueze equalised on 51 minutes with a fantastic strike from distance. It was made all the ...

 The bank holiday weekend kicked off with a somewhat arduous trip to nearby Peterborough thanks to public transport chaos, so thankfully it was an entertaining game. Sports have been on a bit of a downward spiral and are looking like relegation candidates. It's been a disappointing season for King's Lynn but the away supporters who travelled in numbers would have expected a win. Lynn probably had the best of a tetchy first half but their failure to get the full backs forward and the midfielders on the ball mean there were not too many clear cut chances. Just as it looked like the half was going to finish 0-0. However, in the last minute of the half a dreadful error from Aaron Chapman in the Lynn goal let Luca Miller in to give the home side a halftime lead. The second half saw Lynn spring into action and after 5 minutes Morgan Williams had an equaliser. Lynn clearly fancied the win and started to pepper the Sports' goal. However, as soon as they were in the lead, the defenc...

 This game saw two of the form teams in the National League North take on each other. However, I seem to always see Lynn play when they are not having a good day and this game was no different. King's Lynn had the majority of the play in the first half, but chances were few and far between for either side. Ross Crane and Bailey Clements had good opportunities before Lynn were given a golden on on. On 38 minutes Morgan Williams was clean through on goal only to be hauled down by Olly Dyson. The referee pointed to the spot and Dyson was shown a straight red. It looked like things were going King's Lynn's way. However,  Carlton Ubaezuonu decided that he'd do a fancy penalty and although it was a good save from Spennymoor's Bradley James, it was also a dodgy way of taking a penalty. The half ended 0-0. You would have thought playing against 10 would have given Lynn an advantage in the second half, but it didn't. If anything they looked like the team who had 10 playe...

 Well, there isn't a great deal to say about this game. Lynn have continued to bring in new faces and results have picked up. However, today wasn't really a game that will live long in the memory. Lynn had the majority of the play but couldn't force the issue. Curzon Ashton were happy to sit back and hit Lynn on the break. Despite a flurry of action in the Curzon Ashton box, particularly in the closing stages, this game finished 0-0.

 King's Lynn took to the pitch at the Walks on Saturday with their 3rd 'permanent' manager with Paul Caddis taking over from Ian Culverhouse who was relieved of his duties after a disappointing run of results that saw the Linnets drifting towards the relegation zone. Hopefully, it wasn't just new manager bounce that saw the Linnets get the win. The game started off with neither side creating much but with King's Lynn with the lion's share of the chances. In the opening exchanges Terry Bondo and Ross Crane had a couple of good chances that they weren't quite able to convert and Marine had a single chance that fizzed over the bar. As the half drew to a close Ross Crane had another chance and Jayden Davis came close to giving Lynn the lead, but Barnsley in the Marine goal pulled off a couple of good saves.  The second half started in the same way that the first half had finished with the Linnets in the ascendancy. On 50 minutes they finally broke the deadlock w...

 Well, things are looking to be going from bad to worse at the Walks where King's Lynn went down to bottom team on Saturday.  After starting the season with some exciting striker options, King's Lynn are now short up front and lacked anything resembling clinical up front. The first half saw very few chances for either side with a chance for the home side on 11 minutes from Adam Marriot being a rare opportunity. The first shot was saved and then the second was cleared off the line. King's Lynn did most of the attacking in the half, but the only other real chance fell to Alfreton on the 34th minute.  The second half started off in controversy when Adam Marriot back heeled the ball into the goal to give King's Lynn the lead. However, the linesman said the ball hadn't gone over the line. It definitely had. This was also the turning point in the game as Lynn seemed to go to pieces and Alfreton grew in confidence. The visitor's biggest threat seemed to come from set p...