King’s Lynn return to winning ways with National League North victory over Leamington at The Walks
King's Lynn Town 2 Leamington 0
Gold Omotayo and Morgan Williams were both on target as King's Lynn Town ended a seven-game winless run by beating Leamington at the Docherty Walks Stadium.
Omotayo broke the deadlock with his fifth goal of the campaign early in the second half before Williams wrapped up the three points late in the game as Lynn picked up their first National League North success since the end of August.
The victory also saw manager Ian Culverhouse maintain his remarkable record of winning his first home game in charge at The Walks.
Having beaten the Brakes this evening, the Linnets’ boss continued his proud tradition of getting off to the perfect start in front of a partisan home crowd - a feat he has now achieved in each of his three spells in charge of the club.
It’s a run that began on March 4, 2017, when a debut home fixture under Culverhouse ended in a 2-0 win over Stratford Town.
He repeated the feat on November 3, 2018, overseeing a 3-0 triumph against Alvechurch as he began his second spell at the helm.
This latest victory adds another chapter to that story as Lynn moved four points clear of the drop zone.
Lynn's starting line-up showed two changes from Saturday's goalless draw at Southport.
One was enforced with Tai Fleming coming in for the injured Reece Hall-Johnson, while Emmanuel Maja was given the nod to start in midfield ahead of Sam Collins.
For the visitors, defender Archie Crowther, who was a Linnet at the start of the season before his transfer to the Brakes in September, started against his former club.
Both sides probed in the opening few minutes and it was the visitors who should have gone in front after 14 minutes, but Tim Berridge sliced his effort wide of the target.
Michael Clunan's powerful drive whistled wide of the target and Josh Quaynor toe-poked the ball away from the feet of livewire Ross Crane as Lynn responded. with some bright moments of their own.
The home crowd became increasingly frustrated by Leamington's stop-start tactics and a whistle-happy referee as the visitors looked to disrupt the flow of the game at every opportunity.
An error of judgement from home goalkeeper Aaron Chapman saw him carry the ball outside his box and the Brakes were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box, which Dylan Chapman blazed over the woodwork.
Crane's cross from the byline flashed across the face of goal on the stroke of half-time as Lynn finished the half on top.
Lynn began the second half with extra tempo and it took a brilliant save from Rogan Ravenhill to keep out a 25-yard drive from Fleming.
But the home faithful didn't have to wait much longer before seeing their side take the lead as Morgan Williams delivered a deep corner from the left and Omotayo was the first to react at the far post.
Crane forced Ravenhill into a save at his near post midway through the half as Lynn went in search of a second goal.
Ravenhill then parried away an effort from Bailey Clements as the home side remained in control.
Substitute David Kamara went close to doubling Lynn’s advantage a minute after his introduction, but his shot was smothered by two defenders at the near post.
Lynn’s second-half dominance was eventually rewarded when Omotayo unselfishly laid the ball on a plate for Williams to make it 2-0 with ten minutes left on the clock.
King's Lynn Town: Chapman, Clements, Wilson, Fleming, Dickens, Clunan, Williams, Maja (Collins 67), Crane, Omotayo, Marriott (Kamara 74). Unused subs: Jones, Chadwick, Gyasi, Smith.
Booked: Omotayo, Maja, Chapman.
Scorer: Omotayo 54, Williams 80.
Leamington: Ravenhill, Meredith, Quaynor (Shorrock 58), Streete, Walker, Williams (Clarke 26), Berridge (Lynn 58), Thompson (Shaw 77), Burton, Mitchell (Chiha 87), Crowther. Unused subs: Brearey.
Attendance: 978.
