Herring's 99th minute goal breaks Linnets hearts

The Crusaders snuff out the lights for King's Lynn!

Hungerford Town scored a remarkable winner in the 99th minute of this re-arranged game at King's Lynn to return to a play-off position. The quality of football on show will not live long in the memory but the extraordinary belief of the Hungerford players in the face of adversity certainly will.

The first half was a very cagey affair with both sides reluctant to over commit going forward and both keepers were mostly untroubled. Just before half-time Rhys Tyler was shown a yellow card for his petulant reaction to an opponent but he had been clearly tripped in the build up to a King's Lynn attack which was somehow missed by the match officials. Hungerford's best chance came on 42 minutes when Garyn Preen's free-kick found Gary Horgan unmarked at the far post but he could only direct his header back across goal and wide of the post. A big chance missed and Gary knew it. And then, with barely a minute left on the referee's watch, the ground was plunged into darkness as the floodlights failed. Ten grim minutes ticked by with the small but perfectly formed Hungerford contingent of supporters fearing their 350 mile round trip had been a total waste of time but thankfully the lights came back on and the players returned to the field to complete the additional minute of time and go in level at the break.

King's Lynn came out for the second half in a more determined mood and started to look threatening for the first time in the game although chances remained at a premium. For Hungerford, James Clarke blazed his shot high and wide when in a good position and then Lee Stevenson for the home side found himself in space on the edge of the area but could only shoot tamely at Paul Strudley who made a comfortable save. Stevenson was then to make an even bigger impact on the game on 63 minutes when his ugly lunge at Scott Rees resulted in a straight red card from the referee to the disbelief of the home fans.

Reduced to ten men the home side began to defend deeper but Hungerford were unable to make the difference in numbers tell.
With time running out Bobby Wilkinson threw on Nat Jarvis for James Clark and then Harry Goodger for Stefan Brown in a bid to snatch all three points and in time added on, with King's Lynn fans baying for the final whistle, Garyn Preen again broke forward again and his accurate pass found Mark Draycott whose shot at goal was turned over by goalkeeper Alex Street. As the clock ticked past 98 minutes played, Draycott raced to take the corner and the ball somehow found its way to the far post where Ian Herring gleefully smashed it into the empty net for an unbelievable winner. Cue ecstatic celebrations from the Hungerford contingent and five brave souls who had made the 4 hour journey. Whilst the frustration of the home fans was understandable, their vile abuse and intimidation towards the match officials and Hungerford players and supporters was an experience that none of us would like to go though again.

The more ambitious and braver team on the night deservedly took all three points, albeit in dramatic circumstances, and returned to a place in the play-offs. For King's Lynn the season is over.
Hungerford-Strudley, Horgan, Tyler, Jones, Day, Rees, Clarke (Jarvis), Herring, Brown (Goodger), Draycott, Preen - Subs John, Rusby