For the first time in over a century, County will make the trip to the Walker Stadium on Tuesday night, looking to make it six National League games unbeaten, and close the gap on the top two in the table.
Saturday’s draw at home to Boreham Wood in Interim Manager Dave Conlon’s first game in charge saw County remain in fourth place, but losing no further ground on leaders Torquay United, who drew 0-0 at Notts County.
County will know that three points on Tuesday night could prove to be crucial, as elsewhere the top two go head-to-head, Torquay welcoming Sutton United to Plainmoor. A win could see County rise as high as second in the league table, should Sutton and Hartlepool both lose.
Kings Lynn Town meanwhile were left reeling on Saturday afternoon, as they saw a 2-0 first half lead evaporate in dramatic fashion at Dagenham as three goals in the final twenty minutes, including a stoppage time winner, saw the Daggers emerge 3-2 winners – ending a three match unbeaten run for them.
That defeat leaves the Linnets in 19th place in what is their first ever season in the National League, two places and six points above the relegation zone.
Our Opponents:
Kings Lynn Town will be the ‘youngest’ side County have ever faced on Tuesday, having only been formed in 2010 following the winding up of Kings Lynn FC a year earlier.
Their progress in that short amount of time has been impressive, and accelerated in recent years by extraordinary back-to-back promotions that have propelled to hights even Kings Lynn FC had never reached before.
The mastermind behind their rapid rise has been former Norwich City defender Ian Culverhouse. Having led the Club to second in the Southern League Premier Division in his first season in charge before defeat in the pay-off final, Culverhouse actually left the Club to take charge at Grantham Town in May 2018.
Just five months later however, he resigned at Grantham and returned to the Walks Stadium, finding the Club struggling in the bottom half of the table before turning their fortunes around and again guiding them to second place in the table.
This time there was to be no play-off heartache for the Norfolk side, as a 3-2 win over Warrington Town in the ‘Super playoff’ saw them promoted to the National League North for the first time.
Despite being tipped as relegation candidates at the start of the season, Culverhouse’s side again defied all the odds by spending all of the season battling it out with York City at the top of the table.
Led by scoring sensation Adam Marriott, who scored a stunning 28 league goals in 32 games for the promotion-chasers, the Linnetts led the way for large parts of the season, although no-one could have predicted the dramatic way in which that title race would conclude.
When the pandemic struck in March, Kings Lynn were sitting in second place in the league table, two points behind York, but with two games in hand. Those yet to be played games proved to be decisive, as the decision to decide the season on points-per-game meant it was they that were crowned champions – with York going on to lose in the play-offs.
Whilst their first season in the fifth tier has been more of a leveller for them in terms of results, the side will surely be satisfied with their start to the new campaign despite some heavy defeats, picking up 18 points from their first 16 games to open up a gap between them and the drop zone.
The dangerman up front for them undoubtedly remains Marriott, who has added a further five league goals this season already and adapted well to playing at a higher level. They will be keen to tighten up at the other end, however, as the 34 goals conceded already this season is more than anyone bar Wealdstone and Barnet.
Impressive recent draws against high-flying Halifax and Torquay however suggest they are more than capable of mixing it with the best at this level, and County will have to be at their best to come away with a crucial three points.
Match Stats:
- This will be the first competitive meeting between County and Kings Lynn Town in their current form. We have previously faced Kings Lynn FC however, in an FA Cup tie back in 1912, with County running out 7-2 winners away from home.
- Kings Lynn have struggled at home this season, picking up just two of their five wins this season at the Walks Stadium. County meanwhile have one of the division’s best records away from home, with 16 points picked up on our travels from nine games this season.
