Report by Tom Wardle

The Saturday afternoons FA Cup qualifying round tie saw three changes from Wroxham’s midweek draw against Bury last time out. Oliver Ebbage, Nick Davey and Jack Garrod came into the team for injured Michael Sommerfield and Andy Howell, however Matty Waters was named on the bench.

Kings Lynn started very well from the blocks, earning themselves corner within the first few minutes of the game, Michael Clunan’s corner was whipped into the back post. The corner found the head of Kern Miller and rocketed into the top right hand corner of the net. The Yachtsmen then tried to respond instantly, as Danny Rust’s ball over the top of the defence was met by Jamie Forshaw whose nifty footwork won a corner. But King’s Lynn’s quality showed in the opening 20 minutes of the game. Toby Hilliard held the ball up and was pushed over by Matt Halliday to win a free kick in a dangerous position for the home team. Clunan hit the free kick with power, but was a poor shot and went well wide of the post.

Kings Lynn then had numerous chances to double the lead, Liam Hurst’s teasing cross into the packed box was well cleared by Oliver Ebbage, then Clunan managed to weave his way into a small bit of space on the edge of the box, but his shot was blocked by Matt Halliday. Elliot Pride was then called into action as Clunan’s shot this time giving the Wroxham keeper a relatively comfortable save down to the left. Wroxham then had a chance to counter attack but Jack Garrods cross was cleared by Sam Gaughran. Liam Hurst went down in the box after a challenge from Jack Garrod, but all the players and supports shouting for a penalty didn’t tempt the referee, who waved away any protests.

The home team though they had a two goal cushion, after a ball was played through to Lee Stevenson whose shot was spilled by Pride, then Hilliard passed the ball into the net, but the linesman had his flag up and was judged offside. The Linnets responded very quickly, the ball again getting played beyond the Wroxham defence into the path of Stevenson who took a touch to control the ball and then finished by smashing the ball into the roof of the net, giving Pride no chance. Only a couple of minutes later, it got worse for the away team, this time a ball through to Stevenson was finished by a toe poke underneath the Wroxham keeper, which then gave Kings Lynn a well-earned 3 goal cushion.

Kings Lynn didn’t step off the pace there, a fantastic run from Jordan Yong, then found a pass to Hilliard, who pulled his shot wide of the right post, then a long range shot from Hurst went well over the bar. Around 5 minutes later, a clever and teasing dummy fooled the Wroxham defenders, the ball then fell to Stevenson but the forward put it wide of the goal. Another corner from Clunan late in the first half was smashed across the box and found the head of Miller, who headed into the empty net to sink the Yachtsmen even further.

A dominant first half display meant that the home side went into the break winning 4-0.

The second half saw the introduction of Jack Guyton, who came on for Matt Halliday, But Lynn started the second half as they had left the first, Hilliard going close on two occasions, the first, a shot from the edge of the box was well saved by Pride and the second, a run from deep resulted in a shot going well over the bar from the edge of the box. Kings Lynn then decided to bring off forwards Liam Hurst, Lee Stevenson and Zitlonka who were replaced by Jake Speight, Sam Mulready and Jack Friend. After the substitutions Ryan Fryatt's cross was met by Friend, but his header was straight at Pride in the Wroxham goal.

Wroxham then had another chance to counter attack, this time Jack Garrod’s weaving run down the left hand side saw a pull back onto the penalty spot converted in style by Jamie Forshaw, who placed the ball into the bottom right hand corner to get a consolation goal for Wroxham. The goal inspired Wroxham’s play, as Nick Davey brought the ball down on the edge of the box before passing to Garrod , whose shot went well wide. Again Davey holding the ball up on the half way line before playing it out to on running Jamie Forshaw down the right hand side, but his pacey cross was hit out for a corner.

The Yachtsmen then brought on Jordan Attree for Nick Davey and Jack Garrod was replaced by Matty Waters. Stephen Taylor then took a free kick from about 40 yards out but failed to send the ball on target. The last 10 minutes of the game died down, both teams knowing the outcome, however the only two yellow card of the game came in the final 5 minutes, as they were shown to Danny Rust and David Hinton for bad fouls.

Overall Wroxham weren’t able to cope with the pace and quality of the Kings Lynn attack, and the game was over before half time, although Wroxham can come out with positives, after youngster Oliver Ebbage played very well and could be a ready made replacement for injury’s in the defensive areas.