I’ve done several of these reports before and struck lucky with great games, high scores and talking points, but today my luck ran out. The immaculately observed Remembrance Day silence ultimately proved prophetic for pathetic Rovers.
Listening to the crowd’s half-time shouts of ‘rubbish’, ‘abysmal’, ‘useless’ and ‘boooooo’ summed up the first forty-five minutes perfectly; its ‘highlights’ being King’s Lynn’s shocking pink kit and the referee missing a double penalty shout for the visitors, including an obvious goal-line handball to send them in goalless
The second half was little better for home fans. Despite a tremendous Kyle Hurst shot against the bar from distance, Rovers were shadows of their recent selves with little evidence of the slick passing game, and the letting the ball do the work, seen in recent games. True, they made personnel changes, but each one failed to improve the situation.
The FA Cup cliches were all there, the banana skin, that a visiting martian would think those in pink were 40 league places better positioned than the team in hoops and not vice versa, and the fact that they wanted it more. In truth Rovers went strong in terms of selection, but a series of team, and especially individual, errors presented the visitors with too many chances and Rovers fans knew they would eventually take one, which they duly did, seven minutes from time.
This wasn’t a shock, it wasn’t undeserved; the best team won and the result flattered Rovers, not King’s Lynn.
by John Turner
popular STAND fanzine 