Droylsden F.C.-The bloods on the net!

DROYLSDEN 1 – 0 KING'S LYNN

Blue Square North – Monday 30 March 2009

Report by Gary Owen

Given King's Lynn's financial difficulties, with their players having to drive themselves from East Anglia to the Butcher's Arms, if Droylsden thought they were going to have an easy ride on Monday night, they were sadly mistaken.

Lynn put up a good battling performance, which is all the more impressive mindful that they have little left to play for this season, save for some pride.

Nevertheless, The Bloods had a job to do to remain in the hunt for a play-off place, and in the end a solitary first half goal from Alex Brown was sufficient to grab the three points, although this did leave some nail-biting moments as the game wore on.

Dave Pace was able to select from a fuller squad, with most over the effects of the weekend's bug, but Sean Newton was serving his one match ban following his dismissal against Stalybridge.

Following their lengthy journey, it was the visitors who perhaps surprisingly began the brightest, but Kris Renton's 11th minute effort lacked sufficient power to trouble Craig Mawson.

Mawson was again in action three minutes later when he gathered Andrew Johnson's effort at the second attempt.

Droylsden's first strike on goal came after 25 minutes, but Liam Brownhill's shot from distance was easy for Scott Howie.

However, nine minutes before the break, Lee Roche galloped down the right flank to cross low for Alex Brown, who beat Howie from the edge of the box with the aid of a slight deflection.

The Bloods were much more in the ascendancy after the break, but without really testing Howie, and Lynn did have their moments at times leaving the home fans chewing the proverbial.

Jody Banim shot wide from 25 yards, when he could have travelled a little before shooting, and Jake Speight shot just over from Brownhill's run and cross.

Droylsden missed a good opportunity to settle those nerves on 58 minutes, when Speight latched onto a flick from Carl Lamb – a burst of speed took him away from the central defenders, but his shot was straight at Howie.

Steve Beck then played a diagonal ball into the box, which just eluded both Lamb and Carl Ruffer.

At that point, Lynn switched to a 4-3-3 formation in an attempt to get something from the game, and Mike Byron had to clear a dangerous cross from Johnson at the near post. From the resultant flag kick, Luke Graham headed onto the roof of the net.

Lynn pressed more as the game wore on, but their final ball into the box lacked quality, enabling Droylsden to clear, and Banim had Howie saving at this near post after a typical twist and turn in the box.

But Droylsden held firm to keep their play-off hopes on track, with six ‘cup finals' left to play!

TEAMS:

Droylsden

Mawson, Roche, Brownhill, Byron, Ruffer, Beck, Brown (Pickford, 78'), McGuire, Lamb (Fitzpatrick, 82'), Speight, Banim (Tipton, 87').

Unused Subs: Sorvel, Halford.

King's Lynn

Howie, Graham, Smith, Peters, Thomas, Cann, Kelly (Fisk, 66'), Johnson, Defty J., Renton (Dwyer, 77'), Mitchell

Unused Sub.: Joachim, Defty C., Murray.

Referee: Mr. A. R. Holmes (Pontefract, West Yorkshire)

ATTENDANCE: 278