Kings Lynn Town 0 Stockport County 3 ( Vanarama National League ) Tuesday 22 March 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

( All words & images by hedgegrower)

 

 

County took another measured stride towards regaining their FL status with a well merited 3-0 win away to Kings Lynn Town tonight at the Walks.

Goals from Newby, Hogan and the inevitable Paddy Madden did the damage for the blues who stretched their lead at the top of the National League to a handsome 10 points with a game in hand on the Spirites in second place.

The display from County was another outstanding team performance -Hogan, Palmer and Johnson the personification of cool at the back along with keeper Hinchliffe- the perfect foundation on which to build .............

 

 

............ and that`s just what Collar and Croasdale did, feeding Minihan and Kitching on the wings who both played especially well at times. Elsewhere Newby, enjoying a rare start shone brightly …..nicked one and showed much that would have given his manager  lots of positive things to think about.

 

 Newby- rare start...top showing !

 

 

 

 DC knows pretty much all he needs to on Madden and Quigley and they both had vintage displays causing major issues for their opponents for long periods – Madden scoring County`s third from a free kick won by Quigley who was unlucky not to be on the score sheet himself! 

 Pretty excellent support!

 

 

 

In short it was well worth making the journey to Norfolk and County supporters were there in numbers tonight easily 50% of the crowd of 914, in my view (although the official figure was 274)and they were in terrific form both under the covered terrace and on the open portion behind one goal.

 

 Same excellent support minus a roof !

 

 

 

County showed 4 changes from Tuesday`s starting line with Hogan, Minihan, Quigley and Newby starting in place of Crankshaw, Sarcevic, Hippolyte and the injured Southam- Hales.

 

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Linnets were first to show but it was not long before County started to push on using both flanks to create maximum unease in the home back line.

The locals got behind Kings Lynn early, encouraged to see them win a corner- it was quite busy at times in County`s last third but there did not seem ever to be a real threat to Hinchliffe`s peace of mind at any stage.

Just 7 minutes in and things started to move for the pink shirted blues, thanks to a productive link up twixt Minihan and Quigley that saw Madden played clear. 

 Offside apparently !

 

 

 

 

 

It was a decent move and a moment of some excitement as the Irishman darted clear only to be flagged offside much to his obvious annoyance.

Credit Lynn though, they kept pegging away and Hinchliffe was busier than I guess he anticipated being pre-match- but again there was plenty of neat construction about the home side`s play but no beef and County`s back line knew how to deal with that set of circumstances!

 

 This shot deserved better !

 

 

 

County then hit their opponents hard on the break – Newby and Minihan tearing a gaping hole in the left side of the Kings Lynn defence- keeper Paul Jones excelling himself with a terrific one handed save to deny Minihan & County!

By now 17 minutes had gone by, and County were becoming more and more comfortable in their opponents half- Quigley particularly so but unlucky to see a cross cum shot fly just over the bar.

 Collar and Madden see Quigley`s shot just miss out !

 
 

 

 

 

Just 60 seconds later and any disappointment was forgotten as another County attack saw Minihan again tearing into his task like a lion on uppers- his cross fizzed and scorched its way across the box to where Kitching lurked. In a trice Kitching reacted brilliantly whacking the neatest of balls back across goal for Newby to slam it home and give County the lead they craved.

 Newby opens the scoring.....

 ....watches it over the line......

 ....enjoys the moment.....

 ....as do they !

 

 

 

 

Again, the Linnets replied, but once more without a threat that might have changed the complexion of the game. 

 County have to defend....

 

 

 

Instead, County went hunting a second goal forcing Jones to go full stretch to keep a Quigley effort out and push it around the post. A foul on Collar by Clunan ushered in a County free kick but this flew harmlessly out.

 

 Quigley keeps Jones busy !

 

 

The pressure was definitely on the Linnets now and I marvelled that they survived after Quigley had forced another corner with one of his powerful runs.

But it couldn`t last!

We got a hint of what was to come on the half hour as Coulson nearly OG`d under pressure from Madden. He didn`t, but from the corner he did concede County went 2 up when Hogan soared majestically to head home from Newby`s precise offering!   

Again I was impressed with Lynn`s response- they had a go- ok Omatoya`s header went wide but……………

I was less impressed by Sundire`s actions next going to ground with a near death ring about his demeanour- Quigley got his umpteenth word from the Referee for this whereupon Sundire regained the vertical showing absolutely no ill effects.

County wanted a third goal, but the 41st minute saw a shot from Madden fly wide of the post.

 Close call for Linnets !

 

 

 

 

It went on in the dying embers of the half- first with Jones keeping Quigley`s shot out following excellent work by Hogan and Newby- 

 All up for County ,putting pressure on Linnets !

 

and then good work from Hinchliffe right at the death pushing a shot by Barrett for a corner that saw Madden run it clear to end the half!

                           ………………………………………………………                                                                                                                                                                                                                               The second half opened with County attacking -Coulson doing well to stop another lung bursting run from Quigley.

Within minutes Quiggers was back cage rattling again but he was disappointed once more- his shot drifting wide with Jones a spectator.

Play switched ends next as a Barrett free kick  offered  an illusion of hope to the Linnets – dashed by the determined work of the County back line .

Ten minutes in, and County had one of those `almost moments` as a lovely diagonal ball from Johnson looked set for Madden down the left. It looked a peach until Barrows intervened and blocked Madden`s path to goal clearing the danger.

The home back line were working overtime now and beginning to lose their discipline slightly, but the next action was just pure good defending as Scott prevented Minihan from reaching another beauty from Madden.

                                                      We reached the hour mark with it still 2-0, but this would change and quickly as Quigley bossed his way clear yet again charging through the middle with consummate ease.

It looked a real chance and the outfield Aaron  Jones knew it and reacted badly bringing the County man down- I thought in the box, but I was wrong and the Referee awarded County a free kick smack on the edge of the box and nicely central- giving Jones the Order of the Early Bath showing him a straight red.

Aaron Jones upends Quigley !

 

 Madden`s kick beats the other Jones watched by Collar !

 

 .....and a bit of a hoolie starts !

 

 

 

Up stepped Madden and his kick soared superbly into the net to give County a 3-0 lead.

DC made a triple change now as Madden, Croasdale and Collar gave way to Crankshaw, Keane and Sarcevic.

 

 Collar sits out latter stages-takes a well deserved break!

 

 

 

County had 30 minutes to play against 10 men- but that sort of numerical advantage seldom runs to order – County continued to dominate play for the most part but not wholly….

                                    A brief episode of `Handbags` later , and play resumed, and on 71 minutes we might have had a panic attack but County did not come near to doing so-  Lynn coming as near as they have or would to scoring tonight as Omatoya did the hard bit and took the ball around Hinchliffe- a certain goal was saved by a glorious block – I did not see which of Hogan or Keane sorted this but it truly was a belter- the chance was gone- it stayed 3-0.

It might not have though if Quigley had been allowed to continue his run, but again he was flagged offside, and I was beginning to lose patience with the liner on the main stand side- it was patently not a correct decision.

County continued to press, their left flank offering fresh impetus with Sarcevic and Kitching doing good work for scant reward.

 

 Kitching came back strongly tonight !

 

 

 

Late in normal time King Lynn fashioned something from nothing via Barrett`s free kick , but Hinchliffe reacted well pushing the ball over the bar.

 

 Late Linnets free kick !

 

 

Having cleared the resultant corner, County faced added time still looking for a fourth goal, but it would continue to elude them-Quigley latching onto Kitching`s throw to wriggle dangerously towards the box where Fernandez brought him down.

 Quigley again hauled down !

 

 Sarcevic free kick upcoming!

 

 

Sarcevic`s kick was cleared without undue alarms by Kings Lynn, the game ending with County deservedly taking all the points- enjoying the accolade from their delighted supporters after the final whistle ( more crowd photos in the extensive Additional Gallery at the end of the report).

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was a top job well executed by County, and it is interesting and pleasing to see how DC is managing this period where games are coming thick and fast and resources start to get stretched through injuries.

I hear that possibly Southam-Hales is out for longer than we initially thought which is really sad and fantastically bad luck for a wholeheartedly diligent player. Thankfully Minihan has hit the ground running as his replacement having been eased back gradually of recent weeks by DC.

We wish Macauley a speedy recovery of course and County continued success starting at Eastleigh on Saturday.

Get there if you can, and help County gain a vital 3 points!

See you there hopefully!

 

Kings Lynn Town line up:-

P Jones , Barrows, Coulson, A Jones, Denton, Scott ( Fernandez 61)R, Clunan, Hargreaves, Linton ( Barratt 15), Omotayo ( Browne 73), Sundire.

Subs not used ; McGavin, Bowry.

 

Stockport County line up:

Hinchliffe , Hogan, Palmer, Johnson, Minihan, Kitching, Collar ( Sarcevic 61), Croasdale ( Keane 61), Newby, Madden ( Crankshaw 61), Quigley.

Subs not used: Ashby- Hammond, Hippolyte.

 

Attendance 914

hedgegrower

 

Additional Gallery from hedgegrower:-