National League
The Walks, King's Lynn
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £3.50
Attendance: 643
I had long wanted to visit The Walks, but had been put off in recent seasons by the rather eye watering admission fees charged since King’s Lynn have been in the National League. To be fair, their chairman Stephen Cleeve has had a dose a reality and reduced charges to a more sensible level earlier this season, and when I saw last Sunday that tickets for this cup tie were reduced to a flat rate of £10.00, I jumped at the chance to book my place in the main stand for at least half the normal price. That felt a little hasty as the week wore on, as the Omicron variant of Covid spread like wildfire, causing many games at all levels to be postponed, and even if this one was not, spending over four hours on trains each way and crossing London became an unpalatable prospect, particularly given the substantial minority of (in my opinion) selfish persons choosing not to wear masks. But in the end, I decided to make my way to west Norfolk, being as cautious as possible.
The Walks is about a ten minute walk from King's Lynn train station, through the very pleasant park of the same name, and entrance to the ground is by ticket only - either by having a pre-purchased ticket scanned at the turnstile, or buying one at the adjacent ticket office. With home fans entering in one corner of the ground, and away supporters via their dedicated turnstile in another corner, the absolute standout feature of the ground is the imposing main stand, standing tall and proud, in excellent condition with eleven rows of bright yellow and blue seats inside, making a total capacity of 1,200 seats. Views are generally excellent from an elevated position, although there are a few supporting pillars along the front. The clubhouse and club shop are located in the ground floor, accessed by a door to the front of the stand, and there are eight terrace steps at the foot of the stand. A tea bar window is located in the side wall, beside a further door to the clubhouse, from where drinks can be brought outside with several picnic tables scattered around behind a wooden fence to block the view of the pitch, to comply with the regulation that no alcohol can be consumed within sight of the pitch. Behind one end there are three uncovered terrace steps, whilst along the other length, a covered terrace stretches between corner flags. As spectators are segregated here these days, away supporters are allocated roughly a quarter of this stand, along with a further area behind the remaining end, which is an uncovered terrace, divided by metal railing which is straddled by a catering kiosk, with windows either side to serve home or away fans. The Walks is one of the oldest grounds in the country, dating back to 1879, with the grandstand having opened in 1956. And today, it is a ground to be enjoyed, with a classic football ground feel to it, with plenty of character, spacious, and is very well maintained. The 64 page programme was rather overpriced at £3.50, particularly as only half was relevant to today’s game, given that it was a double issue also covering last Saturday’s match, and so makes no mention of Tommy Widdrington’s appointment as manager eight days previously for this his third game in charge, but under the circumstances, it was a decent read and a printed programme is always gratefully received these days.
Since back to back promotions from the Southern League to the National League via the National League North, King's Lynn have found life much tougher in the National League, finishing second bottom last season but were reprieved as there was to be no relegation due to Covid circumstances. But they find themselves second bottom again at the moment, with only stricken Dover Athletic below them, and four points behind the three clubs immediately above them. They have three and drawn two of their 19 league games so far, and have lost eight of their last nine league games, although they did win 2-1 against Dover last Saturday, in new boss Tommy Widdrington's first game in charge. On paper, they would be favourites to progress to the next round today, as the visitors ply their trade two pyramid steps lower, in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. And they have also been struggling this season, also second bottom, following five wins and four draws from their 20 league games, and have picked up just a point from their last six league games. Whereas today would be King's Lynn first game in this season's competition, it would be Nantwich's fourth, having beaten both Barwell and Grantham Town 2-1 at home, before triumphing 0-1 at Whitby Town in the last round.
On a very overcast afternoon, which became chilly and slightly misty as the daylight faded, the underdogs started very well, with not much between the two teams in the opening stages. But as the half wore on, King's Lynn started to look more threatening, and on 26 minutes, Michael Gyasi drove forward down the middle before spraying the ball wide to the left to Josh Barrett, who unleashed a fantastic curling effort from the edge of the penalty area, and was unfortunate to see the ball come back off the bar. But on 31 minutes the home side took the lead, when a cross from the right was headed out to the feet of Barrett, who took a few touches before poking the ball low inside the left hand post. But the visitors were level four minutes later when Daniel Cockerline sprang the offside trap to run clear and through on goal, eventually dinking the ball over the keeper from a slight angle and inside the far post with a very good finish. That really seemed to inspire the visitors who went on to have good spell of possession football, but the scoreline remained level at the break.
But three minutes after the break, King’s Lynn were awarded a penalty, when Gyasi's surge into the box was ended by a shove from former Welsh international David Vaughan. Barrett duly dispatched the spot kick into the top left corner, brushing the keeper's hands en route, to restore King's Lynn's lead. They went onto control most of the second half and they looked much the more likely to score again, most notably on 74 minutes when a free kick from Barrett whistled just over the bar, and less than a minute later, Gold Omotayo drove to the edge of the area before firing in a shot that came back off the bar. It wasn't until the closing minutes that Nantwich really mounted some pressure to grab an equaliser. The closest they came was on 85 minutes, when a corner was fired towards the near post and could only be rather desperately scrambled behind for a corner, from which Bourne drilled a goalbound shot straight at the keeper. But it was King's Lynn who progressed to the next round, which they deserved on chances created, but Nantwich put on a really good show, holding their own for long periods against a side two steps higher and away from home, and were right in the game right up to the final whistle, but ultimately a lack of a cutting edge meant they never really looked likely to cause an upset today.
It was a shame that the decision to slash ticket prices was not rewarded with a bigger attendance today, but other factors probably need to be considered there, being the last Saturday before Christmas, a gloomy day, not the most attractive of fixtures, and football fans across the country being advised by the medical officers not go to football stadiums today, for risk of being in isolation on Christmas Day. Indeed, with strong rumours that a Covid circuit breaker lockdown may be implemented within the next week, I fear that today may be my last football action of 2021, which is a really shame, as I had planned a bumper harvest of nine games between Boxing Day and December 30th. But if this does turn out to be my last football for a while, at least it was a cracking day out to end with.
Video highlights can be viewed by clicking here
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