Hitchin Town Football Club
Founded 1865, Reformed 1928
Kings Lynn 3 Hitchin Town 1
Tuesday, November 20 2007
The Darren Salton era ended at Kings Lynn on a miserable night that saw the Canaries knocked out of the Errea Cup by the home side's second eleven.
Once again, Hitchin suffered a sending off, their fifth in seven games, in a game that few people seemed to want. There was never much doubt that the home side would win and Hitchin rarely troubled the Linnets' goal.
The opening goal came after 20 seconds in Kings Lynn’s first attack – John Turner sending an overhead kick past Ricky Perks from a Steve Spriggs cross. Hitchin’s task became doubly difficult on 32 minutes when Spriggs netted from close range. Eight minutes from the interval, the Canaries were reduced to 10 men as David Deeney was sent off for dissent.
A double substitution at half-time gave Hitchin some fresh impetus, and in the 50th minute, Lance Gentle-King, who has developed a habit of scoring in cup matches, stabbed the ball home after Richard Pringle headed on a corner.
But within a minute, Kings Lynn restored their two-goal advantage, Mark Heath-Preston turning and shooting home from inside the area.
Kings Lynn: Murray, Buhlemann, Lake, C Defty (Spittlehouse 89), Miller, Harvey, Spriggs, Keegan, Turner (Vincent 75), Heath-Preston, Francis (Nicholls 63)
Hitchin: Perks, Deeney, Ducket, Frater, L.Gentle-King, Childs (Mountford 75), Olaleye, Hill, Jackman (Pringle h/t), Iweduino (Sealey h/t), Mills
Referee: W.Porter
Att: 336