Goals from Jack Lambert and Jayden Davis were enough to give King’s Lynn Town the three points at the Walks Stadium in a night Southport will want to forget in the Enterprise National League North.
Southport came into the fixture in good form with four wins in their last five games with the only defeat coming against top of the table South Shields.
Boss Neil Danns made a host of changes from Saturday’s FA Trophy victory against AFC Fylde with Dylan Dwyer, Djavan Pedro, Matty Williams and Chris Sze coming into the side.
The hosts started fast with a lovely effort from Jack Lambert in the third minute who’s outside the box strike found its way into the bottom corner of Chris Renshaw’s net.
In the 15th minute the home side had a huge chance to double their lead, Adam Marriott broke away after a loose ball and fed through Michael Clunan in space, but his effort was fantastically saved.
Southport created their first real effort in the 18th minute when Luke Griffiths’ free kick was delivered to Tom Moore but his header hit the outside of the post.
It went from bad to worse for Southport in the 40th minute when fullback Dwyer was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge.
Both sides struggled to gain a foothold in the game in the second half due to the adverse weather and pitch conditions.
Clunan had the first real chance of the second half but his half volley from outside the area went wide of the post.
Southport had their best moment in the 84th minute when Griffiths struck a long-range effort, but it was fantastically saved by Aaron Chapman in the King’s Lynn net.
King’s Lynn sealed victory in the 87th minute when Marriott found Davies whose close-range shot found its way into the back of the net.
Southport end the night in 20th position only one place and three points above the drop zone.
Southport turn to Saturday when they will be facing promotion hopefuls Darlington at Haig Avenue.
Watch full reaction from Southport boss Neil Danns:
(featured pictures free to use under Alamy Licence)
