Linnets win in front of bumper crowd

King’s Lynn Town hoisted themselves back into the play-off picture with a hard-fought 2-1 home success over ten-man Oxford City tonight.The visitors were reduced to ten men in the opening minute after Canice Carroll was shown a straight red card for bringing down Jonny Margetts just outside the box with the Lynn forward being deemed the last man.Having an extra man so early gave Lynn a huge boost in front of more than 1,600 fans – but they were made to work hard for all three points after heading into the interval with a two-goal advantage.Lynn got their noses in front in the 11th minute as Josh Hmami delivered the ball on a plate for Ross Crane to score with a cushioned header at the far post.Adam Lakeland’s side dominated the possession stats and remained patient against a visiting outfit that came into the game on the back of three successive defeats.Lynn’s second goal arrived three minutes before the interval with Hmami again putting the ball on a plate for Crane to score his second.The home side almost added a third through the hard-working Hmami before the visitors began to give Lynn some anxious moments. Jayden Carbon was a real handful with his pace up top and his 68th-minute goal gave Lynn an unnecessary scare for the final 20 minutes. King’s Lynn Town: Jones, Ronan, Wilson, McFadden, Armstrong, Johnson (McCammon 57), Taylor (C), Hmami, Hughes (Barnes 57), Crane (Crowe 90), Margetts (Omotayo 70). Subs not used: Forde-Brown.Goals: Crane 12, 41Oxford City: Walker, Burley (Jones 64), Ashby, Coyle (Ezennolim 78), Fleet, McEachran, Carroll, Scott, Willcox, Carbon (Kpekawa 90, Drewe. Subs not used: Ezennolim, Potter, Croker.Goal: Carbon 68Att: 1,606