Away Joy For Knowle Once Again

Dave Sykes reports from the Recreation Ground

Knowle FC made the eagerly awaited trip to the little village of Fairfield near Bromsgrove; 3rd place Villa were fully motivated for the game against their 2nd place rivals so we all settled down to watch a full-blooded encounter. 

Knowle were quickly into their stride in a 4-3-3 formation that produced a fluent attacking style that caused massive problems for the hosts. Nathan Corry was first to make an impact but after embarrassing the full back once, Corry then came in for some very harsh treatment. This left him limping and the Knowle contingent furious that the referee hadn’t shown his adversary a card. However, the full back got his comeuppence when he tripped Corry in the area and he himself took a very confident penalty. Fairfield did offer a threat but it was Knowle who looked the more dangerous throughout the first half. It was no surprise when the Robins went two up when Hague was slipped through by the excellent Dylon Bennett. He turned his marker, which allowed him space to plant the ball into the bottom corner of the net. With Knowle now thinking more about protecting their lead, Villa came more into the game although skipper Louis Cosgrove nearly gave the visitors a three-goal cushion with a powerful header just before the break but it flashed over the bar.

It was Villa who needed to respond in the second half. Respond they did with two changes in personnel and a new dynamic pressing game that gave them far more possession than they had in the first half. Keeper Jack Tregartha became the central figure for the rest of the match. He caught crosses cleanly, cleared dangerous balls with firm punches and proved a tremendous shot stopper. Sam Delaney and skipper Louis Cosgrove were immense at the back with full backs Jay Payne and Christian McArdle digging in and providing excellent cover. Cosgrove almost made it three from a pin point free kick from Payne but it was nearly all Fairfield. The biggest cheer from the Knowle contingent, apart from applauding Tregartha’s saves, came when the referee finally cautioned the full back who had brought a premature end to Nathan Corry’s part in the game. Back to Tregartha in the Knowle goal. He was finally beaten with 10 minutes plus stoppage time to go. A free kick saw ‘Tregs’ commit one way but a slight deflection off the wall saw the ball just avoid has frantic effort to keep it out. Knowle dug in. They brought on Callum Regan and Ryan Andrews to stiffen up the midfield but Villa had their tails up. Shots went high, wide and handsome or Tregartha saved them. Knowle had some guilt edged breakaway chances when both Hague (twice) and Cullen found themselves clear with two or three defenders chasing them down. Knowle supporters questioned the referee’s ability to understand the concept of counting down 4 minutes of stoppage time. Then the outstanding Tregartha had his true moment of glory. Spectators couldn’t believe he managed to keep out a shot from point blank range. Fairfield knew it wasn’t to be their day at that moment. Their manager came over to the Knowle management team (Clive Seeley, Ashley Weeks and Gary Ingram) after that save in an act of true sportsmanship. 

It was a fantastic effort from Fairfield but an even better rear guard action from Tregartha and his cohorts. After three marvellous results in recent games against our nearest challengers, Knowle now move forward with leaders Cadbury in their sights!