Tommy Widdrington was a man in a hurry after King’s Lynn Town’s 6-1 FA Cup demolition of Kettering.
The Linnets boss had his 51st birthday party at home to attend to before sitting down to watch son Kai perform on Strictly Come Dancing – all explained prior to a “quick press conference, please, chaps”.
Had he got through that as quickly as his players ripped through the Poppies, then his Saturday will have been complete – one of those that a certain Danish brewery boasts about.
Widdrington had seen his team exact thrilling and devastating revenge on Kettering following the midweek league reverse that ended an unbeaten start to the season.
It was without doubt the finest performance of Widdrington’s time at the helm – engineered by the brilliant passing ability of Josh Barrett and skippered by Michael Clunan, arguably one of the most under-rated of players at Lynn’s level.
Widdrington has a long relationship with Barrett and knows exactly what he has on his locker.
“He has got technical ability that is way, way above our level,” he said. “He knows that, he knows what I think of him as a lad, and he has had a couple of non-footballing issues to deal with, with a new arrival in his house.
“But he has trained really hard in the last two weeks and this was the right game for him. I just felt that they poked us on Tuesday night. It hurt me and it hurt the players and I think the reaction was excellent.”
“We play high and edgy, we play press, I want to be on the front foot, I want to be fitter, faster, stronger than most of the opposition because of what we do and that’s not his best attribute, but he is technically fantastic. He is tactically very astute, he’s a clever lad. But when he looks and plays like that, anybody in the next level and the next level and the next level should be looking at him, because that’s what he is.”
Clunan is a different player altogether, but equally important.
“I think the skipper was outstanding, but the pair of them in the midfield were brilliant in the first half,” said Widdrington. “But I thought he had Ali Baba’s boots on in the second half, he kept giving it away. He changed his boots, weirdly, but I actually told him in the break when the lad got stretchered off to change his boots back.
“He is infectious, at this level of football he is a very, very good footballer. He is the epitome of what I want and he is a great leader in the dressing room and he made sure we won the second half, and he has done brilliant.”
It wasn’t all about Barrett and Clunan – after Jordan Ponticelli’s 17th-minute opener, Gold Omotayo bagged two goals with Theo Widdrington making it four goals in 12 exhilarating minutes. Kettering pulled one back but Barrett and Aaron Jones sealed the biggest win of Widdrington’s tenure.
“I thought we went about our football in the first half superbly, almost perfect,” he said. “And without being disrespectful to the opposition, I think we could have doubled even trebled the score today and I am really, really pleased.
“Second half I got frustrated because I wanted to see what I saw in the first half. It is very difficult when you are winning 4-0 because I said to them at half-time, we have been 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, let’s make sure we finish off the job.
“So to win the second half when we were as comfortable as we were in the first half, that’s really good from my point of view. It shows a good side.”
The win earned the players a day off, although all ears will be glued to the fourth round qualifying draw on Monday afternoon when the possibility of getting one of the National League big boys hold little attraction for Widdrington.
“I want the lowest possible team at home,” he said. “At the end of the day, we want to go as far as we can in the competition, we know if we play them here, with all due respect, against a team lower than us, then I feel we are going to be dominant. As long as we are here I will be confident.”
King’s Lynn Town: P Jones, Crowther, Coulson, Scott (Jones 41), Widdrington (Callan-McFadden 76), Clunan, Barrett, Hargreaves, Stephens, Ponticelli, Omotayo (Charles 64). Subs not used: Walker, Denton, Fleming, Knowles. Goals: Ponticelli 17, Omotayo 22, 24, Widdrington 29, Barrett 75.
Kettering: Gregory (Hogg 52), Sault (Hill 30), Toseland, White, Stohrer, Ward, Sharpe (Graham 83), Cooper, Bennett, Sheriff, MacDonald. Subs not used: Gascoigne, Hill, Wright, Empson. Goal: Sheriff 59
Att: 828
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