From feast to famine as Lynn v Notts County is rained off

New Linnets boss was bemoaning a run of three games in six days over the Christmas period, but persistent rain meant The Walks pitch was, according to match official David Richardson anyway, unplayable for the big Boxing Day clash against County.

Referee David Richardson inspecting one of the goalmouths at The Walks (Image: Ian Burt Photography)

Having seen the game at Grimsby scheduled for Tuesday night fall to Covid in the hosts' camp, Lynn boss Tommy Widdrington has now been left with just the trip to Chesterfield – which would have been the final part of the festive trilogy – to prepare for.

Widdrington kept a discreet distance from the pre-match pitch inspections, the second of which, at 2pm, decided the game's fate, preferring to leave that to the officials.

“You have to go with what the referee has decided and it usually comes down to the safety of the players,” he said.

“I know that both the squads and management teams were raring to go. It is a big game for us here at The Walks and they have travelled down as well, so I am sure both sets of staff are disappointed. But you just have to go with it. We can only control what we can control and we can’t affect the weather.

“I have certainly played, and I have managed teams, on worse surfaces than that. The referee is ultimately responsible for the safety of everybody on the pitch. Unfortunately, we have to go with that decision.”

County’s presence in west Norfolk would have swelled the attendance and with crowds alarmingly low in recent weeks the festive weather gods did little to help the local mood - although Widdrington was much more upbeat.

Manager Tommy Widdrington, left, and his assistant Hugo Langton with club owner Stephen Cleeve (Image: Ian Burt Photography)

"I have just spoken to the lads telling them it is off and you can see there is palpable disappointment,” said Widdrington. “But they have applied themselves ever so well since I have come to the club and I can’t urge enough for the people of King’s Lynn to come out, whether it is Notts County or Altrincham I don’t care... Woking on the eighth, get yourselves here in numbers and see what is happening.

“I have said to them, nobody can go back and start again, but what we can do is change the ending and I genuinely believe if they can apply themselves as they have since I came in, with a couple of additions in January I can see us having a really good 2022.”

Widdrington has made no secret of the fact there will be changes – his first signing, Olly Scott, would have featured against County, but there will be more on the way.

“If I haven’t been looking since I came in I wouldn’t have been doing my job,” he said. “Everybody thinks recruitment is about when the window opens you just go and pick the player that you like – there is a lot more to it than that and I have lots of irons in lots of fires and I am sure one or two will come out red hot.”

Scott – who played for Blyth Spartans in the National League North and came through the academy system at Sunderland and South Shields - has joined the squad on non-contract terms, having impressed the manager during a trial week of training.

“Olly was going to be involved in the game today,” said Widdrington. “He came and trained on his own. He called me and asked if he could, I made a few phone calls to people who’d had him at their various football clubs up in the north-east. The kid has good pedigree and he trained really well the whole week and I offered him the opportunity to sign for us on a non-contract basis and he ripped my arm off at the elbow, which in itself showed me he wanted to be here.

“He is part of the group for the short term and it is up to him to make it for the longer term.”