County Cup Thriller Sees Knowle Into The Quarter Finals

It was County Cup action on Sunday afternoon for Knowle Ladies as they welcomed neighbours Crusaders to Hampton Road. Third time lucky for this tie after two postponements, both sides served up a proper cup tie that showed their qualities.

The first half was an end to end affair, with both teams making inroads into each other’s territory but finding a solid defence in their way. Crusaders had the first chance of the game when Katie Adams latched onto Katy Smithwaite’s clearance, but her attempted lob bounced wide of the post. Lucy Jones also tracked back well to whip the ball off the forward's toes as she was about to shoot from the edge of the area. Knowle were the first team to have the ball in the net however; Camile Abbotts produced a nice turn to shake off her defender and played in Demi Rolph with a through ball but her confident finish was chalked off for offside. Jess Barlow and Bex Clarke then combined to send the forward in again, but Kloe Douglas made a superb block.

Douglas and team mate Rachael Dyson were defending the dangerous Rolph well, keeping pace with her on the left side and making well timed tackles to halt her runs, so Knowle found success by switching play to the right side. Sam Smith mopped up a long ball and played it to Abbotts, whose first time ball round the corner was met by Jess Holland. She squared in Morgan Betteridge who had bombed forward from full back but her effort flew over the bar. The visitors won several set pieces in the half, but the delivery was wasteful with a couple of corners and a free kick sailing straight out of play, and that limited their chances. They did fashion a good chance from a ball down the line on Knowle’s left, but Maz Byrne was alert to the danger and got across to make the block. No goals and limited clear cut chances in the first half then, with the two defences on top for a nil nil score at halftime.

The second half was a different story! Five goals in total, and a couple more disallowed! Knowle raced into the lead in the first ten minutes of the half. Holland won a corner for her side after neat interplay with Abbotts, though Crusaders disagreed with the decision, believing the Knowle forward got the final touch.  Emma Shaw’s delivery was spot on once again; Maz Byrne rose highest at the far post to firmly plant a header into the net. Knowle were coming out on top all over the pitch at this point and looked dangerous, Lucy Jones was beating the full back at will and linking up with Betteridge to provide plenty of crosses into the box that caused Crusaders to scramble to clear their lines.

The second goal was a great team effort; Betteridge was first to the ball on the halfway line from keeper Justine Lewis' kick before squaring to Clarke. She pivoted it out to Abbotts who broke midfield line with good skill and sent Barlow free; Barlow’s pass found Rolph in the box and she was able to smash her finish into the net. Soon after it was 3-0 and this was perhaps goal of the season, let alone the game. Jones worked the ball down the line and played back to Betteridge, and her left footed cross was met by Rolph with a bicycle kick that flew into the far corner, leaving Lewis stranded.

It looked like that could be game over, but to their credit, Crusaders came out fighting and Knowle were then somewhat guilty of taking their foot off the pedal for the final 25minutes of the game. The team in yellow pulled one back when they poured forward in numbers to create an overload; the right winger managed to get wrong side of Knowle’s defence and although Smirthwaite saved her attempt, Adams slammed in the rebound. Smirthwaite’s handling was impeccable throughout the afternoon and Knowle had to rely on her grabbing two long range attempts from under the crossbar. There was nothing she could do about the away side’s second goal however; Smith blocked a shot on the edge of the box, but the Dyson picked up the loose ball and strode forward. Her ball into the box was worked out to the left side by Danielle Keegan and despite Jones’ last ditch tackle attempt, Ellis Read slotted home. 3-2 and game very much on.

Knowle went into consolidation mode, dropping Clarke into a back five, but it was actually the home side who nearly extended their lead soon after. Shaw’s free kick caused chaos in the box, with the ball eventually bouncing to Rolph to poke home, but the flag cut short her celebrations despite Knowle protests that the ball had been sliced to her by a Crusaders player. Knowle needed that fifth defender when Clarke headed away a dangerous cross, and was first to react to clear a quickly taken corner. It was then Crusaders turn to be thwarted by a linesmen’s flag just on the ninety minute mark; a corner was nodded down into the six yard box and fired into the net by the waiting attacker, but Knowle’s line had followed the ball out. A chance at either end followed; Rolph shot wide after racing through the tired defenders and then Jones made a great block at the other end to stop Crusader’s final attack.

An exciting game between two well matched sides which in truth could have gone either way; but that stunning goal by Rolph turned out to be the winner. 3-2 the final score, sending Knowle into the quarter finals where they face a tie against Wolves.

Knowle: Smirthwaite, Shaw, Smith, Byrne, Betteridge, Clarke, Abbotts, Barlow, Rolph, Holland, Jones. Subs: Morris (for Rolph, 30), Harris (for Abbotts, 80)