| Make no mistake, this was a calamatous result. City are now out of three cup competitions and being in no position to challenge for a place at the top of the league, it leaves us with just the Southern League Cup to fight for. |
| The outcome of the game was fully justified too as following last Saturday's superb performance against Banbury, then Tuesday's hot and cold display against Tiverton, we wilted against the challenge of Kings Lynn and deserved to be dumped out of the competition. |
| Chris Burns, now available following his ban decided to keep faith with the players that had done well in the last week and started himself on the bench. A decision he would regret. |
| Kings Lynn had a side packed with ex-professionals, although to be honest the only name that I recognised was that of former Cambridge City striker Danny Bloomfield. Reputed to be a big money buy and high earned, the diminutive forward has recently come in for criticism for not paying back the investment in him with Lynn sat on the bottom of the League. |
| They needn't have worried as today he gave the travelling supporters a goalscoring masterclass. |
| For once there were a fair few away fans in attendance. From the looks of it they brought two minibuses, one for the normal fans and one for the bad lads. Of course, jump back five years and the dark days at Meadow Park and it was after the Kings Lynn match that the supporters staged a sit in protest on the T-End. The Lynn fans who'd made the trip joined in the pointless fun, so fair play to them! |
| We had two notable faces in the crowd, both City exiles. Shandy Davenport, our man from Stockport was joined by Andrew Bulled, a supporter from Hucclecote who now resides in Northern Ireland. The combined presence of both really threw a spanner in the works and they ought to stick to Crown FC and Ballymena United in future! |
| The East Anglians had new boss Tommy Taylor at the helm, the former Leyton Orient manager, not our affable Ulsterman who helps with the ground on Saturday mornings before going to Tesco's in the afternoon. Their players would've been keen to impress him as they overran City during the first half. |
Lynn might've scored straight away with a speculative long distance, dipping effort from Carl Holmes that just missed the target. City's first chance, well, half chance came when Lee Davis blocked a clearance but Daryl Addis couldn't react quickly enough to beat the other defender for a shot.
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| One of our biggest problems this season has been not taking our chances when their presented on a plate. This generally refers to corners and free kicks, which usually involves Neil Mustoe. One such set piece saw Lee Smith fouled on the wing near the changing rooms, but as the players lined up in the centre for a cross, Mustoe sent his free kick hopelessly behind for a goal kick. Why he keeps taking them is beyond my comprehension. |
| Bloomfield, a deadly striker who made the surprising move from Cambridge City to the Walks in the summer showed why he was so dangerous as his ruthless finish put Lynn a goal up. The City defender proved no obstacle for the pocket sized front runner as he rounded him with a wide berth before shooting hard and low inside Matt Bath's far post. |
| It could've been two straight away as Mark Camm blasted a shot over the bar following a nicely worked move which might've yielded a penalty for the dangerous looking Eastern Division Champions. |
| It was all Kings Lynn now and Chris Bacon made a pigs ear of a simple header as he tamely nodded the ball just over the crossbar when a nice cross was sent over towards the far post. |
| A better free kick from Mustoe, which he earned himself was headed just wide by Neil Griffiths, proving that with Griff and Lyndon a potent threat the lack of quality from set pieces is hurting us dearly. Another run from Mustoe earned a corner that was headed off the line, again from Griff. |
| Just when it looked as though City might score, Kings Lynn did! Bloomfield looked suspiciously offside and ran through to hammer the ball under Bath from the same position as he'd scored his first from. The goal may have been fortunate but they'd have still won with just the one goal. |
| Matt Bath was earning his corn as shots rained in from all angles, but as he was tested any chance from City proved no trouble for Linnets keeper Steve Wilson. Lee Davis was guilty of a poor effort at goal when he flicked the return from a corner straight at the experienced stopper for an easy catch. |
| As the half drew to an end Bath had to be alert to keep the score down to two when he got down well to block a low shot with his legs. |
| Chris Burns had clearly seen enough and didn't even go in for the team talk as he and Jimmy Cox warmed up through the interval so they could replace Davis and Marvin Thompson. It worked as City came out like a different team and put their opponents under the cosh. |
A Lee Smith run down the right wing ended when he was bundled over in the area. With shouts for a penalty, despite the defender not even touching the ball, the ref gave a corner.
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| Chris Thompson had pushed up out of defence and he was the victim of a late tackle on the edge of the box which surprisingly saw no card. The free kick from Mustoe should've got him booked though as he took it with nobody ready and it flew out tamely for a goal kick. Embarrasing. |
| It was all City now and another foul on Smith saw a free kick, this time from Burns, blocked en route to goal. There would be no more Mustoe 'specials' from set pieces as he was replaced by Keith Knight. |
| City came closest to scoring, and Addis to breaking his duck from a Knight corner that found it's way to the former Cinderford man in the six yard box, but he shot straight at the keeper and was denied by a fine save by Wilson. |
| A double change from Kings Lynn must've been their way of trying to find a way back into the game. Carl Holmes and Bloomfield were withdrawn to be replaced by Robert Harris and Lee Stevenson. Two 'like for like' players. |
| Chris Thompson shot just over from outside the box before being involved in a defensive cock-up that should've seen the Linnets net a third. The ball was played back to Bath but the marauding Lynn striker nipped in to pinch the ball and it was only for Matt's tenacity that saw him denied a simple goal. |
| The sixth and final substitution of the game took place when Lynn's Ryan Clarke made way for Jack Defty. |
| On the advice of his keeper, right back Adam Jones tried to slow the game down a little and was booked for taking too long over a throw in. I'm sure Steve Wilson owed him a pint or two for that card! |
| It was all but over now and the Linnets had a couple of chances to kill the game off but were either unlucky or unable to hit the target. |
| To prove that their was still life left in the Tigers Dave Wilkinson had a header saved and Jimmy Cox shot across the face of goal, but it wasn't to be and Kings Lynn marched on to the next round to set up an inviting tie against Southport. Remember them? |
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| Tiger Roar Man of the Match - Nobody |
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Nobody
Star Man |
There were encouraging shows from Lee Smith, Chris Thompson and Tom Webb in the second half but no-one played well enough today to deserve praise.
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