King's Lynn 2, Cheshunt 0: TWO first-half goals from Matt Nolan gave King’s Lynn victory over Southern League Premier Division bottom club Cheshunt at The Walks.

Lynn made a late change when Shaun Carey suffered a slight muscle pull in the warm-up.

Central defender Grant Cooper made a welcome return after injury, but McMahon and Camm were forced out by suspension and illness, respectively.

Youngster Matt Peters made his first start for the Lynn seniors.

After three minutes, Danny Bloomfield almost put Lynn ahead after a delightful chip over a defender, but Cheshunt 'keeper Kalli just gathered the ball in time.

At the other end, Benstead in the Lynn goal reacted smartly to collect a Clark effort. After 13 minutes, a good Lynn move down the right saw O'Halloran cross to Defty, but his shot lacked sufficient power to beat Kalli. Defty repeated the effort two minutes later but this time he shot narrowly wide.

Youngster Peters was playing well in Lynn's midfield and he combined well with Bloomfield after 22 minutes, but Bloomfield's cross was too far away from Defty in the middle.

Two minutes later, Bloomfield shot inches wide as Lynn continued to look dangerous.

A fine effort from Anselin was tipped behind for a corner on the half-hour and, from his flag-kick, the ball was headed home by Matt NOLAN to give Lynn a deserved lead.

A rare break by Cheshunt gave Gregorio an opportunity, but he shot well wide. A superb free-kick by Anselin forced Kalli to fly across his goal to save, but when the ball came out to NOLAN, his lob from a distance sailed into the corner of the Cheshunt net to make it 2-0.

Nolan threatened again a minute later, but this time his shot was a couple of feet wide.

t Half-time - King's Lynn 2, Cheshunt 0.

It took ten minutes of the second period for Lynn to get going again and then only a fine diving stop by Kalli stopped Bloomfield getting through.

Generally however, play was somewhat disjointed and neither side was creating many opportunities.

Bloomfield was replaced by Heath-Preston on 65 minutes for Lynn but still the cohesion of Lynn's first half play was missing as the home side became more and more frustrated at Cheshunt's apparent tactics of lying on the floor every time a Lynn player tackled. Minutes from the end, Nolan and Heath-Preston combined well, but Nolan's attempted hat-trick shot hit Kalli's leg and was cleared. This was a disappointing second half for Lynn, but nevertheless a welcome return to winning form after their last couple of losing fixtures.

t Final score: King's Lynn 2, Cheshunt 0.

Attendance: 862.

King's Lynn: Benstead, Jones, Smith, West, Cooper, Anselin, Defty, O'Halloran, Carey, Nolan, Bloomfield, Peters. Subs: Heath-Preston, Hammond, Harvey, Fell.

Cheshunt: Kalli, Fenton, Parry, Bernard, Reddington, Allen, Clark, Highton, Gregorio, Opara, Deane. Subs: Lingell, O'Dell, Samuel, S Dicks, B Dicks.