football rambles

 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 ...

 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.

 Saturday saw King's Lynn supposedly take on Macclesfield in what should have been a good match. Unfortunately, it was pouring down, but with no information coming from the clubs about it being off, I got on the train. The rain was getting worse and worse so I popped into the Fenman and got chatting to some Macc fans. At 2:40 we arrived at the ground. The DJ was rather sarcastically playing 'I do my crying in the rain'. Only for them to announce on our arrival that the game was off. A bit of a disappointment and a crap result fro the Macclesfield fans who had  a long journey for no football. Understandable though as it didn't stop raining and the photos coming out of the club would suggest that the pitch was unplayable even though both wanted the game to go ahead.

 Saturday saw King's Lynn take on Harrow in the FA Trophy, in what, despite all of the turmoil at the club recently, should have been a standard win for the Linnets. It definitely felt like that would be the case at the start of the game. The opening exchanges saw Harlow pushed back into their own half with a relentless wave of attacks from Lynn. Ross Crane opened the scoring on 10 minutes and Gold Omotayo made it 2 from the spot on 20 minutes. The rest of the half continued in a similar vein with Tom Clark in the Harrow goal keeping Lynn at bay. The teams went in at halftime with Lynn still holding a 2-0 lead, but at this point it didn't feel like Lynn were in any danger of sacrificing their lead. The opening exchanges in the second half were a rather scrappy affair with neither team really getting on the ball. Then on the 65th minute Dernell Wynter pulled one back for Harrow. All of a sudden Harrow had some belief that they could actually get something from the game. They pus...

 After a bright enough start to the season and positivity surrounding the club, King's Lynn parted way with their manager for reasons that aren't obvious at this point in time, so the club needed a good reaction on Saturday and despite playing lower opposition, that's exactly what they got. Gyassi and Williams scored 2 quick goals to put Lynn 2-0 up after 10 minutes and  Nyahwema made it 3-0 before the break. It was a very dominant half and just what Lynn needed.  After the break Ross Crane added to the tally with a brace that gave Lynn a 5-0 lead on the hour mark.  Royston got a penalty in the closing minutes to get on the scoresheet, but this was just the tonic Lynn needed after a troublesome week. It'll be interesting to see who comes out of the hat in the next round.

 Telford United might be a famous old name in non-league football, but they have had a bleak few years and this was their first game at this level after winning promotion. King's Lynn were also in the doldrums at the start of Summer, but new investment and new players have led to a new sense of optimism around the club. From the offset, it looked like Lynn were going to push for goals while Telford were keen to defend, take things slow and attack when they had the chance. As I had hoped in preseason, they decided to start with Gold Omotayo and Michael Gyasi. In the opening encounters Lynn definitely had the best of it, with Gyasi putting the ball in the net and the impressive Joe Nyahwema hitting the cross bar with a fantastic effort. However, despite the constant pressure it was Telford who took the lead when Mathew Stenson converted a penalty for the visitors. The incident happened at the other end but it was given for a foul in the box. Lynn coach, James Rowe was apoplectic, but...

 The bumper bank holiday weekend of football kicked off with play-off chasing King's Lynn playing at home to top of the table Scunthorpe. I don't think many people would have expected King's Lynn to win but an end to end game was settled by an Omotoya Gold goal on 16 minutes. It was a really good performance and a great day out.

On Saturday a bumper crowd at the Walks saw King's Lynn take on Spennymoor in a game that many had been anticipating. Lynn have put in some good performances of late and were looking to cement their place in the play-offs. Some fans have been skeptical and think that the team still need to rebuild ahead of gaining promotion. On this performance, I'd have to agree with them. At times, the team have looked goal shy all season and there have to be some questions over whether Omotaya Gold is good enough to be leading the line at this level. However, if you don't create any chances for him, then you won't find out. On this performance, it didn't look like Lynn would have scored for a week.  Fair play to Spennymoor though, who were definitely a lot more clinical and struck at key moments in the game. A goal from Aidan Rutledge in the 41st minute and one from Fin Shrimpton gave the visitors a 2-0 lead at the break. To be fair, the first half was all Spennymoor, who looked ...