King's Lynn 2 Droylsden 1
Yesterday was non-league day, so like almost every other Saturday we headed out to a non-league game. Fortunately, Ely were playing in Kirkley and as Crusaders had a match in the morning there was no way to make it there, so instead we travelled to King's Lynn to see the Linnets take on the bloods of Droylsden.
After a few years of having things their own way the Linnets are now in the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League and despite having the second biggest attendances in the league they are no longer having things their own way and can no longer be described as big fish in a small pond. Droylsden, mainly because of their proximity to a lot of other clubs in and around Manchester have the smallest support in the division, although they once spent some time in the Conference, much to the chagrin of WELFs (Whingeing Ex-league Fans) who never relished a journey there. Things have been going downhill for the Bloods though, who have recently found themselves on the wrong end of a few hammerings. However, if Lynn thought that they were going to have a return to recent seasons of comfortably beating all comers Droylsden were going to provide stiffer opposition. After losing 5-0 to Fylde last time out the Bloods had added several new players and on this day proved not to be pushovers.
King's Lynn looked the brightest from the start, but they seemed to be missing a target man in the middle. Spriggs as usual was carving through the defence, but it was always too easy for Enes Firmino who was having a great game as centre half for the visitors. When Droylsden did break Lynn looked a bit frail at the back and perhaps a bit more effective going forward. On 30 minutes Shane Tolley replaced Dan Mulready for the hosts and it didn't seem like he was injured, but rather to mix things up in attack. The main talking point of the half was on 33 minutes when Andy Langford clearly brought Stephen Spriggs down in the box, but the referee decided against giving the hosts a penalty. The remaining minutes of the half were fairly evenly balanced, but the best chance fell to Droylsden who had an effort cleared off the line.
Droylsden started off the brighter of the two teams in the second half and Lynn didn't seem to have made a wise move by substituting Stephen Spriggs for Daniel Jacob at half-time. That said, it soon paid dividends when on 55 minutes Phil Gulliver moved up from central defence to take the role of big target man and fire the Linnets into the lead.On 61 minutes Jacob had a chance to put Lynn further ahead, but he stepped on the ball when it would have been easier to score. Lynn by now were in the ascendancy, but Droylsden looked good on the counter attack. To prove the point on 68 minutes the home team hit the bar and then had an effort cleared off the line, but then Droylsden went up the other end Dylan Moloney equalised for the visitors.
It was to be a temporary reprieve for the Bloods though as just one minute substitute Rob Duffy scored with his first ever touch in a Lynn shirt to restore the lead. After this Lynn dug in and defended and managed to close the game out with a slender victory.
After a few years of having things their own way the Linnets are now in the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League and despite having the second biggest attendances in the league they are no longer having things their own way and can no longer be described as big fish in a small pond. Droylsden, mainly because of their proximity to a lot of other clubs in and around Manchester have the smallest support in the division, although they once spent some time in the Conference, much to the chagrin of WELFs (Whingeing Ex-league Fans) who never relished a journey there. Things have been going downhill for the Bloods though, who have recently found themselves on the wrong end of a few hammerings. However, if Lynn thought that they were going to have a return to recent seasons of comfortably beating all comers Droylsden were going to provide stiffer opposition. After losing 5-0 to Fylde last time out the Bloods had added several new players and on this day proved not to be pushovers.
King's Lynn looked the brightest from the start, but they seemed to be missing a target man in the middle. Spriggs as usual was carving through the defence, but it was always too easy for Enes Firmino who was having a great game as centre half for the visitors. When Droylsden did break Lynn looked a bit frail at the back and perhaps a bit more effective going forward. On 30 minutes Shane Tolley replaced Dan Mulready for the hosts and it didn't seem like he was injured, but rather to mix things up in attack. The main talking point of the half was on 33 minutes when Andy Langford clearly brought Stephen Spriggs down in the box, but the referee decided against giving the hosts a penalty. The remaining minutes of the half were fairly evenly balanced, but the best chance fell to Droylsden who had an effort cleared off the line.
Droylsden started off the brighter of the two teams in the second half and Lynn didn't seem to have made a wise move by substituting Stephen Spriggs for Daniel Jacob at half-time. That said, it soon paid dividends when on 55 minutes Phil Gulliver moved up from central defence to take the role of big target man and fire the Linnets into the lead.On 61 minutes Jacob had a chance to put Lynn further ahead, but he stepped on the ball when it would have been easier to score. Lynn by now were in the ascendancy, but Droylsden looked good on the counter attack. To prove the point on 68 minutes the home team hit the bar and then had an effort cleared off the line, but then Droylsden went up the other end Dylan Moloney equalised for the visitors.
It was to be a temporary reprieve for the Bloods though as just one minute substitute Rob Duffy scored with his first ever touch in a Lynn shirt to restore the lead. After this Lynn dug in and defended and managed to close the game out with a slender victory.
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