SOUTHERN PREMIER SAT 17TH NOVEMBER 2007 3PM

The Linnets are absolutely aching to get out of this League and into where they feel they rightfully belong. Dogged in the last 20 years with successive financial crises and the need to pull themselves back from the pit, they have chopped and changed managers and line-ups.

Past few years they have fallen behind the pace and seen first Histon, then Salisbury and then Bath come out on top. This year they are really going for it. Their long suffering and wonderfully cynical but huge fan base are watching with every one of their six fingers and toes firmly crossed.

Joke, just in case anybody is unfamiliar with the fact that North West Norfolk is the location for one of the (many) homes for the most famous inbred family line in the country. Well, that's the MBE gone, then.

Mr Webb, brought in to replace Tommy Taylor when he decamped to The Posh midway through last season, has been very cute. He has retained the best of the past lot – West, Camm, Carey, Frew and Warren.

He had the nowse to keep the Defty brothers, the two iconic Linnet locals who once again got through pre-season and again kept their places in the squad. And snapped up Danny Bloomfield for his third return to The Walks when he was finally let go by Histon.

And brought in some very good players, little Fisk and the rangy Joe Francis showing that he knows how to bring a player on and get him playing the way he wants them to perform on the pitch. After an abject display against Corby in midweek we were in for a towsing time – he would not let them do that twice. So it proved.

Cirencester Town 0 King’s Lynn 4

The potentially fragile visitors had the best possible start. Ciren, losing the ball in midfield, saw Mark Camm sweep the ball wide right to the veteran Dean West who transferred out to Michael Frew. With more space than he could have believed, he picked his spot and drove a cross in to the edge of the Ciren area.

Jack Defty is an unusual footballer. He has what could charitably be called a 'big frame'. Uses it well to stand firm and with his size, wins a lot in the air. And he is a natural – he knows how to hit the target and rarely panics in front of goal. His greatest asset is a real skill (instinct?) in getting himself into the right place – thinks way ahead of most footballers and so is already moving before a defender knows he has gone.

Hefty would never win a race to a through ball. Mark him, don't let him roll you and you might have a chance of taking away one of the Lynn attacking ploys. Give him space and you might as well have stayed in the dug out. It was switched off defending and our lads were mesmerised by him for all of his hour on the pitch.

As Frew looked up for the cross Defty was allowed time, with Mike Taylor 10 yards away in front of his own keeper, to connect with a pass that was drilled to exactly the spot the centre was supposed to be. Completely unmarked, Jack Defty had time to control but chose to send a first time volley into the top corner for a Lynn lead with just over one minute on the clock.

Minutes later Lynn again broke through the middle, when Fisk moved far quicker than Jacko to connect with a miscued pass out of the Ciren defence. With Defty and Joe Francis getting in each other’s way when completely clear and into the area, it was Matt Bulman who made the decisive intervention, coming out smartly to collect and hold the ball.

At the other end Scott Howie, a former custodian at Bristol Rovers and well known to the local fans, was hardly troubled. The Ciren passes wide to both Andy Chapman and to Matt Shaxton looked promising. Both were instantly closed down, with the midfield Linnets at once cutting off the angles for the inside pass.

A half chance came when Chris Davis came to meet a Jacko pass to feet up the middle, spun off Warren and shot on 14 minutes. Straight at Howie, covering the place where the shot was likely to be sent. A fizzer over him into the far corner would have done damage but those are never easy and the better option was the direct shot for the top right corner.

In spite of conceding that avoidable goal, Ciren were frisky and making Lynn work. And, typical, their back line tested the ref by going as close as they could to the edge. He kept them honest, whistling every late nudge, hand on the shirt, shove in the back. There was a distinct chance that Ciren would make the indiscipline and edginess pay.

Howie was nowhere near an Andy Chapman free kick on 19 minutes, the ball striking the post, but that was as close as Ciren got to bringing the game back to parity. Every other free kick - and there were enough for the ref to warn Lynn that the next cynical foul would get a caution - was met by a determined Lynn forehead. And if they could not get the ball they made sure there was enough physical effort in there to knock the Ciren attacker off balance.

Lynn made the game safe on 35 minutes. Greg Crane was lucky to escape a whistle when he won a header by sticking his arm into Steve Robertson’s head and shoving him away. But, the header being deemed fair, the ball broke to Mark Camm in midfield. Who instantly transferred through the middle, Jack Defty having immediately moved right as the ball broke and taking Taylor with him.

Sent away by that lovely, accurate first touch, Danny Bloomfield was off into the huge gap left between Taylor and Alex Stanley. Looking at least 3 yards offside when he collected and with the linesman not up with play it left the deadly little striker in acres of space and he was into the penalty area to net comfortably.

The referee waved away justified protests on the basis that “The linesman did not flag so, even if I agree with you, the goal stands”. Quite frankly, that is not good enough. But the reality was that the movement off the ball had created the gap, Bloomfield had gambled that the pass would split the gap and was already moving. His speed of thought and reaction had got him through. Who knows whether the lino was right or wrong? Lynn relaxed and bossed the game from then on.

Bloomfield collected the due yellow for the next infringement but by then Crane and Warren were on top of the attack. When they needed to they belted away. When they had time to control they did so and Lynn were silky in keeping possession once they had won it back. The ability to hit a pass with good weight to a spare man at the back is important.

Only Crane fancied himself for trying to hit Francis with 40 yard cross field passes and he was not very good at it. What was noticeable, and uncomfortable, was that the Lynn midfield had decided that Ciren were not going to beat their defence.

Earlier, they had closed down quickly and scrapped. Now, almost arrogant, they were already moving off the Ciren midfield and making space. And the little triangles of passes as Lynn worked the ball free always left a spare man in the middle, with time to pick the next pass. It was impressive. And ominous.

Second half, Lynn doubled their lead within minutes. Ciren skipper Chris Collins was caught on the flank and forced to a panicky clearance. Collected by the inevitably quickest to move Camm, the sparky and hugely effective midfielder set up a series of perfectly timed passes through the defence to set Joe Francis free on the left. He danced in, seemingly in slow motion, had time to drop his shoulder and wiggle his hips and then netted with ease into the gap on the far post on 47 minutes.

On 50 minutes Camm was, inevitably, again the first to react to a loose ball when Chris Davis tried to retain possession and lost it on the edge of the Lynn penalty area. Camm's quick collect and instant pass sent Andrew Fisk away in the centre circle.

Unchallenged as he ran into the Ciren half, his beautifully paced and placed pass through the defence was calmly collected and then netted by Bloomfield. What was not good to see was Wallo, the intended recipient of Chris Davis' original miscued lay-off, charging back upfield in defence but always outside both Fisk and Bloomfield.

It is a drill good footballers do in their sleep and as Fisk drew Alex Stanley to him and Hefty lumbered wide with Taylor close to him it was a simple move to score. Waiting until Bloomfield checked inside and inevitably made the back peddalling 'Lex switch his weight to cover the inside run, and then dart the other way to go through the gap on the outside, Fisk sent the pass smoothly on the deck and weighted to slow to a stop as Danny Bloomfield arrived. The finish was under no challenge at all, and calmly rolled inside the far post across the totally exposed and not surprisingly furious Matt Bulman.

Ciren battled throughout but were always a yard behind, in movement and reaction, to an ultimately very comfortable Lynn. Matt Shaxton brought Howie to a genuine save with a shot on the run on 76 minutes, and Rhys Carpenter, replacing Davis, worked hard and on 81 minutes went inside Warren to force Howie to make a good stop at his near post.

But, before that, Matt Bulman had twice done superbly to time his saves off first Francis and then sub Mark Preston when Ciren attacks broke down and King's Lynn swiftly turned defence into attack.

But Bulman, defiant throughout, was left unprotected when Frew broke through on 87 minutes and shot and hit the angle of post and bar with two Lynn team mates clear inside the six yard box waiting for the cross and an easy goal.

Sure, Lynn were better drilled and had players who knew what they were doing. And once they had established a superiority they never let it go. Digging into the tackle all match, always making sure they were moving the right way to collect the pass, they had Ciren chasing shadows.

Or being shepherded into blind alleys. Twice, three times Nathan broke a tackle. Each time, his run had to be across the defensive line as the nearest Linnet opened up and showed him the route to the sideline. Go too far and the danger was snuffed out.

Why? As Nathan won the ball there was no Ciren player 'on' for the pass off, where a return could maybe make the Lynn defence change direction. And the attacks petered out, West or Crane retrieved for Lynn and immediately the Ciren back line was looking for the next attack to come at them.

It happened all day. We may not be as slick as Lynn, maybe not with quite the control or passing range as their lads. But I could not work out why we seemed to be always a yard away, not thinking quick enough. And when we did have the ball, allowing what are after all just normal human beings apparently to mesmerise us into passing the ball to them instead of to a team mate. We let that one go with barely a whimper and it was at times quite embarrassing.

Centurions: Matt Bulman, Chris Collins (c), Dan Wallington Y48, Nathan Haisley, Alex Stanley, Mike Taylor, Matt Shaxton, Michael Jackson, Steve Robertson, Chris Davis [Rhys Carpenter 50], Andrew Chapman {Jon Else 50]
other subs: Paul Hunt, Harry Etheridge, Alex Frost

Linnets: Scott Howie, Dean West, Ben Chapman, Mark Warren (c), Greg Crane, Mark Camm, Michael Frew, Andy Fisk [Charlie Defty 74], Jack Defty [Matt Nolan 65], Danny Bloomfield Y42 [Mark Preston 77], Joe Francis
other subs: Greg Lake, Rob Murray g/k

Ref: Mr J Flynn (Oldham) Did fine, consistent and clear. Stood no nonsense and eventually Lynn realised they'd have to play the game properly. I wasn't so sure about the baldy lino, who seemed not to be able to read the game well enough to see what was happening.

Att: 149 Not bad at all – we are keeping our really basic core support and while they would have been disappointed that even though Lynn were a better team we let them have an awful lot of unchallenged ball, they also knew they'd seen a good team today.

Mom: For me Mark Camm (King’s Lynn) is typical of their team. Been with them several years now, nothing flashy, he just marks tight, bites in but also has a sense of space and time so he recovers quickly and passes accurately. Can't ask much more than that. Ciren MoM: No argument - Matt Bulman. Without his display, that could have been a real downer of a result.