Southern League Premier Division Saturday 29 April 2006 - The Walks Stadium - kick off 3.00pm

Report taken from by Richard Gadsby

The previous Saturday's 5-1 win over Aylesbury should have served as warning to City's promotion rivals, but King's Lynn obviously were not paying attention and paid the price early on. After a lively opening spell, Dean Clarke found himself in space on the edge of the box and cracked a powerful shot goalwards. Keeper John Higgs should have claimed it, but instead spilled the ball to Scott Rogers who blasted home from close range. Shell-shocked Lynn, who had controlled possession without threatening to score, almost found themselves 2-0 down a few minutes later but Jim Rollo scuffed a weak shot straight at the keeper from six yards out. Lynn were on the ropes but they were handed a lifeline by the referee on 27 minutes. A 50-50, chest-high ball on the edge of the Lynn area saw City's Adie Harris challenge with his foot whilst Dean West stooped for the header with the Linnets defender ending up in a heap on the floor. It was definitely a free-kick, and probably a booking, but Harris, who had clearly gone for the ball, can feel aggrieved at being shown a straight red. With Phillip Walsh's red card against Chippenham, and City's subsequent shambolic performance, still fresh in their minds, the visiting fans must have feared the worst. They need not have worried. A five-minute spell of King's Lynn dominance followed and Chris Astley was forced into a great diving save to deny Adam Smith, with Cedric Anselin comically cracking the rebound against his own player with the goal at his mercy. After that, City defended admirably with the impressive, yet unfamiliar, front partnership of Andy Sandell and Walsh working overtime to fill in the gap in midfield as well as making several promising counter-raids of their own.

It stayed at 1-0 until the break and City looked similarly comfortable in the second half with some excellent pass-and-move football. Astley made another great save to deny Shaun Carey's low close-range header after 54 minutes, but otherwise had little to do. Lynn continued to control possession but were out of ideas when it came to unlocking City's defence whilst Sandell, a revelation in his new role as striker, seemed to create breaks out of nothing. It was 2-0 on the hour when the Lynn defence failed to clear a hopeful ball into the box and Walsh was on hand to head home at the back post. Lynn made inroads towards the end of the game as City legs began to tire, unsung hero Clarke being the most notable. Astley made another brave save to stop the onrushing Carey on 77 minutes and substitute Lee Charles powered a free header over the bar from eight yards to sum up the Linnets' day.