All Change Robins Get There In The End
16th March 2024: Knowle FC 3-1 Lane Head
The Robins had been idle for five consecutive Saturdays due to postponements caused by unfit pitches. It was therefore not surprising that in the early stages of this match they were rusty; a fact not helped by fielding four debutantes with a number of regulars injured or unavailable.
Nevertheless, it was The Robins who made all the running from the first whistle. Yet the slick passing was misfiring, and the simple things were going wrong. Despite this, Lane Head were chasing shadows.
With twenty minutes on the clock, The Robins were caught in possession in mid-field by Lane Head’s impressive Captain, Kane Taylor. Having won the ball, he took his chance and dished out the ultimate punishment by scoring from some twenty yards. His team mates were ecstatic, The Robins crestfallen.
Rather than feel sorry for themselves, The Robins set about levelling the score. It only took one minute! A Knowle corner from the right was headed home by Odane Barnes.
The home side continued to dominate with Jay Rendell hitting the bar, and a number of attempts on target being saved.
The second half continued much as the first had ended. The Robins’ debutants all acquitted themselves very well. Barnes was a constant threat, Cody Mullan controlled things with the dependable Dylon Bennett, Rioud Bakala-Koussaba assisted the defence with his pace, and in goal Joel Chadwick did well with what little he had to do. Nathan Corry shone, and the shots kept coming. Thirteen minutes from the end, Jack Mullen put The Robins in the lead, and eight minutes later made it three.
When The Robins managed to scrape off the rust, they were a force to be reckoned with, none more so than Man of the Match, Ben Jones.
This is not to say that Lane Head did not have their moments. There were times when the home defence needed to be on the ball, and even deep into added time, the visitor’s Goalkeeper came into The Robins’ area for a corner.
Once The Robins became used to each other, and recovered the sharpness that comes with regular meaningful matches, there was only going to be one winner. But for the most of the match it was scoring that was the problem. As Joint Manager Matthew Seeley said to me afterwards, “I thought the ball was never going into the net!”.
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Knowle FC: Chadwick; Jones; Taylor; L Clarke (c); Rioul Bakala-Koussaba; Bennett; Corry (Riddiford); Cory Mullan; Rendell (Burston-Keeley); Mullen [77 & 85]; Barnes [20]. Sub not used: Sinton; Manning. Yellow Card: L Clarke
