Matchday nine is upon us, and it’s King’s Lynn Town taking on Chorley at the Docherty Walks on Saturday 12th September.
Chorley sit in 11th place, with eleven points on the board in the first eight matches. After losing their opening two matches, Chorley went on a four-game unbeaten run, picking up the first three points of the season in a two-nil win at Marine, followed by a first home win of the campaign at home to Scarborough Athletic. Back-to-back draws then followed over the August bank holiday weekend, with the game between Chorley and Merthyr Town at Pennydarren Park finishing one apiece, and a Desmond two-all draw with Brackley Town taking place at Victory Park two days later.
After that, a third defeat of the season for Andy Preece’s side as they took on high-flying Oxford City in a game that saw the Magpies concede four without responding.
Last time out for Chorley, a much-needed win on home soil against Darlington. An early opener from Elliott Taylor put the hosts into the lead. A back-and-forth first half turned into a fabulous forty-five for the Magpies as they scored two goals in nine minutes, with the latter being in the fourth minute of additional time at the end of the first half. Warren Clarke and Jack Hazlehurst put their names on the scoreline.
Hazlehurst started the second half much like he finished the first, as he netted his second of the evening ten minutes into the second half. Darlington started finding momentum, but the damage had already been done. That, however, didn’t stop Aiden Rutledge getting involved in the action, as he scored two goals in five minutes with ten minutes left of normal time. Seven minutes later, Jack Sampson killed the game off with a fifth goal for the Magpies. The last action of the game was Aiden Rutledge being sent off in the fourth minute of additional time at the end of the game.
After Lynn’s defeat on Tuesday night, training sessions have been of high intensity, and the focus has been on, as First Team Manager Paul Caddis said today in his pre-match interview, “being better defensively, individually and collectively.”
These two sides have met many times before, most memorably for the Play-off Eliminator fixture at Victory Park in April of 2025. This was an even game across the board, but set-piece brilliance, started by Adam Blakeman, saw the ball flash across Paul Jones’ six-yard area for veteran centre-half Mark Ellis to steer home with six minutes left of normal time to play. Lynn were unable to find a response, meaning their season and play-off campaign came to an unfortunate end.
In the head-to-head stats between the two sides, Lynn have taken three wins, two draws have taken place, and Chorley have won four. So, this game is set up to be a brilliant spectacle tomorrow afternoon.
The last time these two sides faced was Lynn’s final home game of last season. Lynn needed something out of this game to stand any chance of staying in the division come the final whistle a week later. Mike Calveley put the visitors ahead forty-two minutes into the game, but Lynn knew there was more than enough time to get something. Ross Crane was shown what you could argue was an undeserved yellow card for a coming together between him and Warren Clarke midway through the second half, but the referee showed no hesitation in punishing Crane for the collision between the two. Ten minutes later, a Lynn set-piece from the left-hand side was headed away by the Chorley defence, with the chance of a counter-attack through Mike Calveley. Crane saw the attack looming large and pulled the Chorley skipper back and onto the deck, meaning the referee had no choice but to show a second yellow to the Lynn winger, putting the Linnets down to ten.
After all this, Lynn held themselves strong. They had to, and as time ticked away, the home side kept the pressure on. Chapman’s long ball, flicked by Doherty, found Adam Marriott on the left-hand side of the penalty area. The cut-back was beautiful; in came Ubaezuonu, who tucked it into the bottom-right corner, rescuing what turned out to be one of the most important goals of Lynn’s season.
Tomorrow, King’s Lynn Town and Chorley lock horns once more at the Docherty Walks. A game that will no doubt bring chaos, drama and passion. We cannot wait to see you all at our home tomorrow afternoon.
Up the Linnets 💛💙