It was the case of another game that got away for King's Lynn Town, according to Gary Setchell.

For at least 45 minutes the Linnets appeared likely to end their wait for a home win since New Year's Day. But it didn't arrive as missed chances and defensive lapses helped Blyth Spartans return to the north-east having pocketed a 3-1 victory.

Lynn boss Setchell said: 'It was more than within our grasp. We've got to come in (at half-time) in front with the chances we created.

'Obviously we've had a penalty miss (Peter Winn), Stevo's (Lee Stevenson) had a one-on-one, Jonesy's (Jake Jones) had a gift at the far post, Spriggsy's (Steve Spriggs) had a one-on-one and you think 'we've really got to go in in front'.

'Then it's a tale of two fundamentals of the team really. We've missed chances at one end and we've given sloppy goals away. There's no two ways about it. The first one (54 seconds) we weren't out of the dressing room. I think Conor (Marshall) was a bit unlucky for the second one with the ricochet, it fell straight back to their lad (Danny Parker).

'The third one. Two of my players left it in the middle of midfield, my centre-halves have switched off, and the lad (Daniel Maguire) has run through and scored the goal. It's a shame as we played some good stuff in the first half.'

The defeat was Lynn's ninth Evo-Stik Premier Division reverse at The Walks and extended their winless home run to seven matches. It leaves Town 14th in the table, six points above the relegation zone, with five matches to go.

'We get done far too often with straight balls down the middle of the pitch,' added Setchell.

'We don't get them sort of gifts. We talk about it, we work on it, and it keeps happening. We've got five games to go, we probably still need another win (to be safe) – we'll get it, no question about that – and then we've got to do some hard work through the off season recruiting.

'Whether people believe it or not we've got the basis of a good squad here. We're one or two key players away from being a very, very good Northern (Evo-Stik) Premier League team.'

Chester loanee Peter Winn will remain at the club until the end of the campaign after extending his loan deal prior to the Blyth game kicking off.

- Click here to see a match report and gallery of pictures from Lynn's game against Blyth.