lineup

Dean Thomas

Gary Moran

Jamie Williams

Adam Hart

Craig Herbert

Andy Commander

Rory Squire

Craig Dutton

Robbie Beard

Justin Marsden

Steve Evans

subs used

Jon Douglas

Kevin Charley

Things had not been quite going for Rugby in the last couple of games against Aylesbury and Merthyr, but after riding their luck in the first twenty minutes or so, Valley got on top and claimed all three points.

Jamie Williams passed a late fitness test to return to the line-up, while Gary Redgate was not so lucky and an injury meant he had to sit on the bench.

The visitors started the better of the two sides, and created movement in midfield and down the flanks.  For the last few games, it had been Rugby who started the better but ended up on the losing side, but today, the roles were reversed.

King’s Lynn made their first break after four minutes down the left hand side when Gary Setchell delivered a good ball and Carl Holmes headed only to see Dean Thomas tip his effort over the bar.

It was all Lynn in the opening ten minutes, and Setchell sliced an effort wide from the edge of the area before Mark Camm tested Thomas in the Rugby goal.

Valley had to wait ten minutes for their first real attack, and Gary Moran fed Justin Marsden, who turned his marker in the box and crossed, but Steve Wilson managed to cut the ball from finding its way to Robbie Beard.

A cross from the Linnets’ right was dangerous deflected off the boot of Jamie Williams and over the bar, and from the resulting corner; the home side scrambled the ball from out of the six-yard box.

After withstanding a lot of pressure without the visitors really making a clear-cut chance, Rugby looked dangerous on the break, with Steve Evans feeding Marsden down the left, before the youngster whipped a superb ball into the box and Beard got in-between the two covering defenders but could only head into the hands of Wilson.

At the other end, King’s Lynn were still creating some half chances, and Mark Angel provided a good cross from the left but Holmes had to watch his header flash agonisingly past the post.

Rugby then kicked into life and the home side broke with pace after a visiting corner, and Marsden fed Beard who took the ball in his stride before producing a snap shot inside the area, which he could only poke just over the bar.

The breakthrough came ten minutes before the break, when Marsden latched onto a long pass from the back and attacked the King’s Lynn defence before being clumsily challenged by Mark Burrows inside the area.  It was soft penalty for the Linnets to concede, but Justin Marsden did not mind as he dispatched it without a problem.

Valley could have doubled their lead when captain Craig Herbert played a delightful freekick over the Lynn defence and the troublesome Marsden took the ball to the by-line and curled a wonderful ball across the six yard box, and Beard could not quite reach the ball properly at the back post and sliced the ball over the bar as he slid in.

After the break, Rugby kept up some of their momentum while Lynn disappointed with some woeful final balls.

Robbie Beard made the first breakthrough when he cut in from the right but Wilson matched the number nine’s curling effort.

The only time the Linnets looked dangerous were from corners but Rugby matched the visitors’ shots with blocks inside the area.

The game was all-but-sealed on the hour-mark when the visiting defence was opened up when Marsden and Evans combined, before the latter released Robbie Beard down the right-hand side and he cut in and drove a diagonal ball across Wilson and into the far corner.

Lynn didn’t give up and were causing a constant problem but the Rugby defence either blocked or intercepted when they needed to and were lucky that a shot didn’t deflect into the back of the net.

Craig Fishlock had one of Linnet’s better chances, but he could only head into Thomas’ hands, while with fifteen minutes remaining, Beard broke down the left and crossed for Evans, but the midfielder scuffed his volleyed attempt.

In the final three minutes, King’s Lynn finally created some more clear-cut chances, with all three chances falling to Danny Bloomfield.  The first came as he slid in after a goalmouth scramble, but Thomas did well to deny him and then the goalkeeper won the battle a minute later when a long ball seemed to catch out the Rugby defence.

With the final kick of the game, Bloomfield smashed the ball against the crossbar from five yards when he should have hit the target.

King’s Lynn were clearly not on song, and Rugby prevented them from creating clear-cut chances and hit them well on the break.