One of the pleasures of this season is finally being able to put one over certain clubs that have tormented or sometimes bullied the Bulls over the years. Our first home win over Spennymoor for instance, the first victory at Gloucester in my lifetime and our first positive League result at Kings Lynn.
Lynn have tormented AND bullied us over recent years so I am very much hoping this is another bogey to bury. Our Norfolk visitors though are barely recognisable from previous sides. They used to be packed with local born, well-built and really rather cynical footballers. All gone now to various locations including prison but that’s a tale for another day. The only recognisable person remaining is Chairman and owner Stephen Cleave. Various Hereford persons have good reason to be grateful to the Lynn owner so some empathy is deserved here. For years, time and money donated by this man has kept this club in an artificially high position but what has he to show for that now other than memories?
Despite having a full-time squad, the Linnets have not escaped the bottom four all season. They finished second last season but most of their big hitters chose to leave in the summer and were not properly replaced. Central defender Adam Crowther has just departed for a fee thought to be £35,000. Playmaker Josh Barrett may follow. Long serving midfielder Ben Stephens was sent off at Buxton and will miss our game. The natives are getting restless – those that still turn up as attendances have shrunk to 850 and there is open criticism of the owner in certain quarters. There was a concern that the club would not survive the season but not any longer thanks to an entrepreneur from Singapore who has bunged in significant revenue.
The still new-ish manager Adam Lakeland (39), recruited presumably at no little expense from Curzon in October, hasn’t been able to improve their League position. He and his predecessor have already used 31 different players this season. With such a turnover, it’s quite hard to pick out opponents who will threaten. Top scorer is Bartosz Cybulski, a 6 foot 6 sized striker with 7 goals. He’s hard to miss if playing. Predictably Polish born but moved to UK aged 4. He’s 21 and on a two-year deal though didn’t sign until after the Bulls visit.
Their recent home defeat by Darlington will have flattered morale even further. The Darlo winning goal came in injury time but even East Anglian reports admit the north-east club were far the better side throughout. Since then, they took a 2 goal lead at Buxton but could only take one point home in the end.
The manager has bought in young new forwards on loan, Harley Curtis (21) from Chesterfield and Owen Davenport (19) from Fleetwood. The pair of them have a handful of games in adult football between them so they will have to learn on the job. Two new defenders have also shuffled in through the door, notably 33-year-old Gregg Taylor who played 373 games for Cambridge United.
On the road, the Linnets away record isn’t much worse than ours. Look closer though and it’s only the strugglers whom Lynn have beaten away from home – Southport, Rushall, and Darlington. Put them up against a top half club and – an early season goalless draw at Curzon apart-0 they’ve lost every time.
Edgar Street is a sexy place to be and of course everyone wants to be there.
King’s Lynn Town (ticketco.events)
