Wealdstone 2 – 1 Kings Lynn Town

Wealdstone

National League

2 - 1

Kings Lynn Town

KO: 15:00 | Sat 7th May ’22

Wealdstone produced a fine second half comeback against already relegated Kings Lynn Town to clinch victory in their last home match of the season.  Stuart Maynard made three changes to the line-up from the side that drew with Yeovil Town on Monday, with George Wickens, Connor McAvoy and Ashley Charles all returning to the starting eleven.

Gold Omotayo had put the visitors ahead in the first half, but a goal from Joshua Umerah pegged the Linnets back, while Ira Jackson’s strike at the death sealed all three points for the Stones.

Kings Lynn Town were agonisingly close to taking an early lead when Cameron Hargreaves latched onto the ball on the edge of the area and powered a fierce strike on target, with only the crossbar denying him a 9th minute opener.

The Stones then nearly seized the advantage when Aaron Henry’s corner was flicked onto David Sesay at the far post, but he could only direct his header just wide in the 16th minute. Sesay came near to scoring again in the 30th minute when he advanced into the box and shot towards goal, but Paul Jones held well after initially spilling the midfielder’s effort.

The Linnets duly broke the deadlock in the 36th minute when Barrett’s sublime free kick smashed off of the underside of the crossbar and was nodded home by Omotayo. A minute later, Tommy Widdrington’s side had the chance to double their lead when the influential Barrett dribbled into the box and shot on target, but George Wickens reacted with a solid save.

On the stroke of half time, Umerah burst forward and squared to Charlie Cooper, but he could only poke his effort straight at Jones in the Linnets’ goal.  A moment later, Barrett was close to extending the visitors’ advantage again. The midfielder’s shot from the edge of the area was heading towards the bottom corner, but Wickens produced another top-quality save to keep his team in the contest.

The Stones emerged from the interval with attacking intent, and were close to levelling when Henry spotted Jones off of his line and hit an audacious effort from 60 yards, which Kings Lynn Town’s number one recovered just in time to save.  In the 52nd minute, Charles Clayden’s cross was flicked towards goal by Umerah, but Jones was alert in the Linnets’ goal to thwart the forward’s attempt. Down the opposite end, Barrett beat Connor McAvoy on the edge of the box and fired towards goal, but the in-form Wickens was equal to his effort.

The Stones equalised in the 59th minute when Umerah was cleverly threaded through on goal by McAvoy, with the top goal scorer coolly slotting the ball home past Jones to notch his 16thgoal of the season. Substitute Ira Jackson was quick to make an impact, firing a dangerous low cross into the box, which deflected off of OliverScott, prompting Jones to have to react quickly to prevent the ball creeping in at the near post. In the 74th minute, Barrett whipped a free kick onto the head of Joshua Coulson, but the defender nodded his effort wide. Four minutes later, Jack Cook burst forward and played through Umerah on the edge of the box; the attacker cut inside and shot, but his effort swerved marginally over the crossbar. Three minutes from time, Wealdstone completed their fight back and clinched all three points. Nikola Tavares’ cross was headed back across goal by Charlie Cooper to Jackson, who smashed home a superb strike past Jones from an acute angle.

WEALDSTONE: Wickens, Tavares, Cook (c), McAvoy, Mundle-Smith, Charles, Henry, Cooper, Sesay (Jackson 61), Clayden (Mascoll 89), Umerah. Subs not used: Negraru, Okimo, Hearn.

Report by Nicole Cho-Yee

Stuart Maynard post Match interview HERE

Jon Taffel Match (+ Awards Presentation) pics HERE