Mark Hearle Julian Joachim gave King's Lynn supporters the display they had been waiting for as the Linnets got back into the winning habit at The Walks on Saturday.

Mark Hearle

Keith Webb insists his men are no longer soft touches after this coming of age Blue Square North win.

Lynn's latest headline figures record a second away league success of the season. Julian Joachim's third goal in a week. Back-to-back league victories and a healthy tenth spot in the latest standings.

But Webb's squad left Watnall Road's antiquated surroundings with much more. Belief they can mix it in the Blue Square North trenches. Lynn were well and truly bullied in the opening stanza.

Hucknall's twin battering rams Dave Kettle and Danny Bacon mauled the visiting centre-halves - Bacon shrugging off Simon Weaver and Greg Crane to fire underneath Scott Howie for a deserved early lead.

Lynn - all possession and no end product. Hucknall feeding on scraps and long balls down the channels for their attacking totem poles. Beauty and the beast.

Inch by inch, the Linnets took control of the key middle ground. Driven on by Scott Mitchell and bolstered by Mark Camm's arrival prior to the break for the injured Adam Smith.

Lynn's patient passing now carried a second half menace. Joachim turned back the clock with a sublime strike. Swivel, hit, goal. All in one blinding movement. The ball flashed past James Lindley from the edge of the box before he was barely airborne in a vain bid to claw out Joachim's instinctive shot.

Lynn pushed deeper into enemy territory. Now it was Howie a redundant spectator. Michael Frew, Mitchell, Defty all peppered Lindley's goal before Luke Graham's towering header nestled inside his far post to delight the hardy pocket of Blue and Gold fans.

"It wasn't a great game of football by any stretch of the imagination," said Webb. "We had to come here and do a job. I think early on in the season we may have gone away with a draw or even losing the game. This shows how far we have come. I don't know whether people have said if we get into them they are a bit of a soft touch. Early on I questioned that side of it as well, make no mistake, but we have the players in the team now who are used to that part of it. They can dish it out when they want to.

"The players should take confidence from this and take it on again. We go to Southport next and no one perhaps expects us to go and beat them. I want us to show no fear because I feel if we are on our mettle and focused we can definitely cause them problems."

Webb (below) employed the carrot rather than the stick to jump-start his side at the interval. No flying crockery inside the away dressing room.

"Sometimes people think all managers have to do is go in there and rant and rave," he said. "Sometimes it's actually a case of being calm and collected - trying to give them plenty of constructive advice. There were no harsh words. I just felt if we got the first goal we had more than enough in our side to go on and win the game.

"I was disappointed with the two centre halves and I told them that at half time. Whether they agree or disagree is immaterial. I said what I wanted from my centre halves and, to be fair, second half they looked a lot more solid. I thought Craney looked a bit better. Scott ran himself to a standstill and Ben (Sedgemore) wasn't far behind. You've got to play to the conditions and the surroundings. We stressed that to them before the game and I thought we did that."

Joachim's silky strike embellished Lynn's steely second-half comeback. Quality of the highest order.

"I thought it was an excellent finish," said Webb. "One of those balls that has come over his right shoulder and he's kept his eye on the ball and struck it well. He knew where the goal was without looking and all the keeper could do was pick that one out.

"Forwards thrive on confidence. The opportunity has come his way in the last few games and when you are confident in your self you do things without thinking about it. When things aren't going well you take a split second to make that decision instead of perhaps taking the shot on early which will always cause a keeper problems."

King's Lynn: Howie, Graham, Chapman, Weaver, Crane, Sedgemore, Frew (Francis 69), S Mitchell, Defty, Joachim, Smith (Camm 44). Subs not used: Bloomfield, Turner, Murray. Goals: Joachim (63), Graham (80).

Hucknall: Lindley, Baxter, Shaw, Smedley, Timons, Sucharewycz, Wilson, P Mitchell, Kettle (Robertson 61), Bacon, Liburd. Subs not used: Ward, Galloway. Goal: Bacon (15).

Referee: R Wooton. Attendance: 339