Our final home National League game this side of Christmas sees us take on King’s Lynn Town under the floodlights tomorrow night, looking to extend Dave Challinor’s unbeaten start to life as County manager.
Paddy Madden’s brilliant first-half double at the weekend secured a first league win under our new boss down at Woking, and lifted us back into the top ten in the National League – two points off the play-off places with a game in hand.
With six of the nine sides above us in the league table facing each other, tomorrow night is a real opportunity for County to gain further ground on the top with a win, and potentially even move into the top seven for the first time this season.
Elsewhere on Saturday night, King’s Lynn twice threw away a lead away before going on to lose 3-2 at in-form Bromley, to leave Ian Culverhouse’s side mired in the relegation zone after a difficult start to the new season. They currently sit 22nd in the table, three points from safety and above only winless Dover after 15 games.
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Our Opponents:
It’s been a remarkable rise over the last few seasons for King’s Lynn Town, formed in 2010 as a phoenix club to King’s Lynn FC, as back-to-back promotions under former Norwich defender Culverhouse saw them reach the National League for the very first time in 2020.
The second of those promotions saw them succeed County as National League North Champions on points per game, despite being in 2nd place behind York City when the season was cut short due to the pandemic.
The Covid-19 pandemic again went on to play a big part in the Norfolk side’s first season in the fifth tier, as they finished 21st and in what would have been the division’s final relegation place, but for the null and voiding of the National League North and South seasons meaning the Linnets’ survival was guaranteed for another season.
To their credit, the side drew plenty of plaudits throughout the season for their passing style of play under Culverhouse, and managed to take points off Hartlepool, Torquay and Notts County over the course of the season.
Ultimately however, a poor defensive record cost them dear as they conceded an astonishing 98 goals in their 42 league games – only Wealdstone, with 99, conceded more in the National League that season.
With no relegation however, last year can perhaps be viewed as a ‘practice season’ for the Linnets in preparation for the new campaign, as they look to retain their National League status on merit this time round, and the club have moved into a full-time model over the summer in order to help achieve that.
The loss of star man Sonny Carey over the summer has undoubtedly been a big blow to those plans; the young midfielder leaving to join Championship club Blackpool after several dazzling displays last season.
An impressive win away at Yeovil Town in just their second game of the season represented a promising start for the side too, but the Linnets have won just one of their 13 league games since then to sink towards the bottom of the table.
They have picked up just one point from eight games at The Walks Stadium so far this season, and that defeat at Bromley was their sixth in a row; a run that included a 6-2 home reversal to Wrexham.
There is a suggestion that in general their performances have been better than their results to date, having pushed a strong Bromley side all the way at the weekend and almost taking League 2 Walsall to a replay in the FA Cup First Round.
As is always the case in the National League, County will need to be at their best under the light at Edgeley Park to pick up what would be a big three points in the context of the league table.
Match Stats:
- The two meetings between the sides last season were the first ever between County and King’s Lynn Town, the Hatters winning both games 4-0. County did also once face King’s Lynn FC before they folded and were reformed – a 7-2 away win in the FA Cup back in 1912.
- Since the start of last season, no team has conceded more goals than King’s Lynn’s 129.
- Paddy Madden scored three times in our two games against the Linnets last season.
- County will be looking to improve on a poor record at Edgeley Park this season, having picked up double the amount of points away from home than we have in SK3.
