Peterborough RHC 5 – 11 King’s Lynn RHC
King’s Lynn secured their sixth win of the season with a strong performance away at Peterborough, taking their tally to 18 points from 7 and leaving them in pole position heading into the festive period.
It would be natural to focus on Lynn’s precision in front of goal in a game in which they scored double figures; however, it was off the ball that Lynn demonstrated their quality, the reds relentless in their search for space behind Peterborough’s defence. Peterborough struggled to contain Lynn’s darting movements, and before they had created anything troubling of their own, Lynn had finished three: the first from Ryan Barnes, darting into the D to tap home the simplest he’ll score all season; the second from Josh Taylor, latching on to a cross rink pass to convert from an acute angle; and the third from Matthew Baker, cleverly tucking in a wraparound at the far post.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for Lynn, as the scoreline reveals, and the first of their concerns arrived from the halfway line, a long range effort sailing through bodies to find a home in the back of Lynn’s net. Allander, unsighted on that occasion, more than compensated with a number of fine saves, particularly down to his right after some lax defending gifted Peterborough a 1 v 1 with the score at just 0 – 1.
Despite the lack of absolute dominance, Lynn never looked like losing, and added another two to take the score to 1 – 5 with fewer than ten minutes to play in the first half. Baker received a wayward pass from the Peterborough defence inside their area to convert from close range, before Jamie Griffin scored from the penalty spot, finding a gap in the bottom left just minutes after hitting the crossbar with an earlier attempt.
For all the action from open play, the untold story of the game came from dead ball situations, and had Lynn been as clinical as Peterborough from directs and penalties, the scoreline would have looked even more convincing; of five penalty attempts, Lynn converted just one, while failing to finish any of their four direct free hits. Peterborough, on the other hand, had no issue finishing their two direct attempts in the first half, the first a particularly fine example of close range dribbling, and it was with the score at 3 – 5 that Lynn retired for the half time break, not quite sure where their four-goal margin had disappeared to.
If it seemed like a momentum shift was on the cards, Lynn put all such fears of an upset, on a weekend in which Lynn’s title rivals London lost to eighth-placed Ely and Chesterton United, to bed in the second half. With ten minutes gone, Lynn had taken the score to 3 – 9, Baker and Taylor both taking hattricks, before Jack Tucker finished a beautiful team move transplanted directly from a training routine. Barnes and Tucker, with just the keeper to beat, exchanged passes in true Chuckle Brothers fashion before Tucker finished hard into the open net.
With the game now essentially over, Peterborough added a couple of consolations, the first a sweet volley at the far post and the second a slap during a powerplay that added some gloss to Peterborough’s performance. Lynn, not to be outdone, added a final couple to take their goals scored to 50 for the season, 13 more than Middlesbrough in second, with both Baker and Taylor again finding the net to complete their respective quadruples. This time it was Taylor who took the coveted Captain Vancouver man of the match, but in truth, there were a number of contenders, all of whom added a spark to Lynn’s play that Peterborough were unable to extinguish.
Lynn return to Premier League action away to second-placed Middlesbrough on Saturday 11th January, in a contest that could have significant implications in Lynn’s search for their fifth consecutive title.
