KINGS LYNN RESERVES v. IPSWICH WANDERERS

RIDGEONS LEAGUE PREMIER

SATURDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2005

The rain had stopped by the time the players took the field and it was mild and damp. Wanderers had new signing Sam Banya on the bench but illness and injury deprived them of Jorrell Hurd, Bradley Barber and Alan Mills. Still, on paper, it was a strong line up and another 3 points did not seem out of the question.

Kings Lynn looked the livelier from the start with Forshaw coming close after 12 mins when he failed to connect to a low cross at the far post. Wanderers were finding it difficult to relieve the pressure as they were giving the ball away in midfield too easily so, on 16 mins Jamie Stannard was forced to punch away White’s cross as Lynn continued to attack. Although the visitors were finding it difficult to string more than a couple of passes together at a time, after 25mins, they came back into it with Ricky Martin’s powerful shot being deflected for a corner after Dean Tournay-Godfrey had taken advantage of a slip by Miller and shot on the turn.

It was Heath-Preston, for the home side, who broke the deadlock on 33 mins when he received the ball from a corner after sustained pressure, and slammed it into the far corner with the Wanderers defence looking on. Kings Lynn continued to pile on the pressure with Jamie Stannard, in the visitors’ goal, being kept busy until a free kick, floated in from the left by Jamie Baker, was met by the head of Jason Dozzell and the scores were level on 42 mins. Player/manager Jason Dozzell embarked on a flamboyant goalscoring celebration but his triumph ended in an ungainly heap on the slippery surface. Coming just before the interval this was probably an accurate reflection of the endeavour of both sides in the first half.

Kings Lynn Res. 1 Ipswich Wanderers 1

The restart brought an instant response from Kings Lynn with Heath-Preston being tackled at the last moment by Chris Tracey as the Lynn no. 8 raced into the area right from the kick-off. Jamie Stannard did well to read Peters’ cross-come-shot, on 54 mins, which he tipped over the bar but, although Kings Lynn continued to have the best of the play, Wanderers were becoming more competitive despite an obviously struggling Jamie Baker. Keegan was through on goal but shot weakly but from Jamie Stannard’s clearance Ricky Martin slotted a perfect ball through the Lynn defence for Dean Tournay-Godfrey but there was no support and the move fizzled out. 

On the hour Sam Banya came on to replace Rene Swann but then Wanderers were reduced to 10 men as Marc Lowe received his second booking for what seemed an innocuous tackle. From the resultant free kick, Hetah-Preston’s header brought a diving save from Jamie Stannard before Kings Lynn took advantage of the inequality of numbers with Peters driving home after a weak clearance from Smith. They then lost White to the referees red card for a bit of ‘afters’ on JamieBaker and although the numbers were now even, the balance of play was not as Jamie Baker was succumbing to illness and was eventually replaced by Neil Hayward.

Lee Smith had a determined run down the right to the byline and crossed for Dean Tournay-Godfrey, but his shot was blocked as Wanderers fought their way back into the game. With less than 5 mins to go, Sam Banya had a geader cleared and Jamie Baker hit a swerving, dipping shot that McAnally did well to gather.

Ricky Martin had the final chance of the game when his header went high and wide when only a few yards out from Tournay-Godfrey’s cross. This followed a lovely move with Jason Dozzell, now stepped up into midfield, putting a pass forward for Sam Banya to flick on to the visitor’s no10.

Wanderers seemed to have lacked the determination seen in the previous game, but with so many players missing or not feeling too good on the day, it was a creditable display, although some may have argued that a point was deserved.