Tommy Widdrington hails King’s Lynn commitme

Posted Sunday, November 06, 2022 by PA

King’s Lynn manager Tommy Widdrington praised the staying power of his side as they produced a fully deserved FA Cup shock at Doncaster.

Widdrington admitted he expected the Linnets not to replicate a brilliant first-half performance after the break – only for substitute Gold Omotayo to head home the winner and send them through.

The National League North leaders enjoyed the majority of the attacking play throughout the game and could easily have won by a wider margin against limp Doncaster.

“We should have been ahead at half-time, not because we missed the target, but because the goalkeeper made some good saves,” Widdrington said.

“I thought it would be hard to replicate that performance in the second half, but the players did and I’m delighted for the crowd that the goal was in front of them.

“Nobody switched off at any point of the game and you can’t when you’re playing against that quality of opposition. Everybody put their bodies on the line and played for the name on the front of the shirt, rather than the one on the back.

“I told Gold when I left him out of the starting XI that he would score the winning goal and, when you are 6ft 5in and can head a ball, then you’re a handful at any level and he was. He’s a consummate professional and when he’s on the pitch, we’re a bigger threat aerially.”

Disappointed Doncaster head coach Danny Schofield admitted his League Two outfit were beaten by the better side.

“I’m very disappointed with the result and definitely with the performance as well,” he said.

“Since I’ve been in the building I’ve given the players a lot of praise on the positive things I’ve seen but we were beaten by the better side in this one.

“We always feed back on the fundamentals. First and foremost we have to compete, we need to be there, winning first and second balls and pressing with aggression, being on the front foot and intense.

“I thought the plan was good defensively in the first half and they found it difficult to break us. But I thought with the ball we were poor. We didn’t have enough attacking moments to win the game.

“The momentum shifted around 60 minutes and I felt we could control the game and create more chances, as we had done in the previous games. But we didn’t continue with that momentum and it only lasted 15 minutes.

“To concede a goal like that from a long throw is always disappointing. We’re constantly working on these sorts of things so to concede a goal like that was frustrating.”