Three goals in the last four minutes helped Lynn complete a dramatic turnaround to see off Ilkeston at a drenched Walks.

With the rain pouring down, Tyrell Waite added to the home club's misery by curling sweetly into the top corner in the 62nd minute to help Ilkeston close in on a priceless away victory.

However, Ryan Fryatt teed up loanee Charley Sanders to bag his first goal for Lynn in the 87th minute and the provider turned goalscorer just two minutes later to spark wild scenes.

And just to make sure the comeback was safe, Rob Duffy even found time to score an injury-time penalty to seal a thrilling victory for Norfolk's premiere semi-professional outfit.

After all the fanfare of his arrival yesterday, Gary Setchell made the surprise decision to place new signing David Bell on the substitutes' bench. However, the ex-professional hadn't featured for League One Notts County since November due to a hip problem so is clearly not match-fit ahead of his foray into the non-league scene.

Sam Mulready joined him as a sub after shaking off his hamstring problem which has kept him sidelined for a couple of weeks while fellow frontman Massiah McDonald was sitting out the sixth match of his seven-game suspension.

The Linnets came out the right side of a seven-goal thriller at the New Manor Ground in the reverse fixture in September, a game which Lynn's manager missed due to the illness of his son Danny. Thankfully, both his club and his child's fortunes have improved dramatically since then with back-to-back promoted Town threatening a serious play-off push going into their latest Northern League fixture.

That night Dan Jacob tore Rob Kozluk to shreds but neither featured this time as Ilkeston looked to bounce back from consecutive league defeats while the hosts aimed to respond from their first defeat in six matches at Matlock Town on Saturday.

It was Ilkeston who threatened early on with Waite scuffing a shot wide and then bursting through for a one-on-one chance with Alex Street. However, Lynn's goalie managed to get a crucial hand on the ball as the visitors' number 10 tried to go round him.

Try as they might, the men in yellow struggled to get into their rhythm. George Thomson tried to create a spark from long range but his left-footed drive flew high and wide in the 15th minute. Jake Jones burst through a few passages of play later but Robins shot-stopper Ross Etheridge got down quickly to deny him.

Setchell reorganised his troops to try and exert more influence on proceedings. Thomson dropped deeper in midfield, Jack McGovern went out wide and Andy Hall moved into the free role. Could that help the home side take control?

All three were involved in the next opening of sorts around the half-hour mark which saw Hall go close with a speculative overhead kick. Jordan Yong's effort soon after was less impressive as he blazed wildly wide from 30 yards.

The visitors enjoyed a decent spell at the end of the half but centre-back Jason Lee was at his best to mop up any danger. And when he couldn't, Waite was only able to slash wide.

A storm of almost biblical proportions delayed the return of the action after the interval. But the players eventually came back out as Bell took to the pitch in place of McGovern.

The high-profile capture's first meaningful impact saw him flight a delicious ball into the box which was only just headed over by defender Fryatt who had ventured forward.

The rain kept falling and the lightning kept flashing as both teams soldiered on in dreadful conditions. Ilkeston's James Reid nearly dampened the home faithful's mood further when his left-shooted foot from a narrow angle flashed just past Street's upright.

They did take the lead around the hour mark though when Waite sprung the offside trap to latch onto Gary Ricketts through ball before curling home beautifully into the top corner.

Jones look destined to have grabbed Lynn's equaliser a couple of minutes later when his daisy cutter flew towards the bottom corner. But Etheridge flung himself to his right to pull off a wonder save with his fingertips. A comfortable stop from Street denied Laurie Wilson five minutes later.

It was the Robins who looked likelier to get a second, rather than the Linnets finding an equaliser, forcing Setchell to throw on strikers Sanders and Mulready. But his three-pronged strikeforce gamble paid off.

First, Fryatt cut back for Sanders who couldn't miss. Then, Sanders flicked on for Fryatt who turned and finished like a striker. And finally, after Jones had won a penalty – harshly given as it looked like Joe Maguire had won the ball – Duffy remained ice cool to send an unlucky Ilkeston home with nothing to show for their efforts.

Lynn (4-2-3-1): Street, R. Clarke, Fryatt, Lee, Yong, McGovern (Bell, 46), Hall (Mulready, 68), Quigley, Thomson (Sanders, 79), Jones, Duffy. Subs not used: Mills, Bore. Booked: Quigley, Jones. Goals: Sanders (87), Fryatt (89), Duffy (90+3).

Ilkeston (4-4-2): Etheridge, Alexander (Wright, 60), R. Wilson, L. Wilson, Maguire, Storey, Carvalho (K. Richards, 72), M. Richards, Ricketts, Waite (Barrington, 79), Reid. Subs not used: Adams, Chettle. Booked: Reid. Goal: Waite (62).

Referee: J. Steel

Attendance: 745