Knowle kickstart pre-season with comprehensive win at Boldmere St. Michaels

Knowle kickstarted their pre-season preparations with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Step 4 side Boldmere St. Michaels at the Amber Arena on Thursday night.

An impressive double from prolific scorer Talib Copeland, alongside further goals from Odane Barnes and Zak Parsons, ensured Knowle got their pre-season underway with a confident victory in Sutton Coldfield.

Facing higher-tier opposition straight out of the blocks, Knowle showed no signs of a summer hangover on the Amber Arena’s slick artificial surface and largely outplayed a team gearing up for their fifth successive season at Step 4.

Officially established in 1883 as a youth team attached to a local church, Boldmere hosted the Indian Olympic football team for a prestigious friendly match following the 1948 London Games and reached the FA Amateur Cup semi-finals in the very same year, where they faced Barnet in front of more than 26,000 supporters at Arsenal’s Highbury Stadium.

Fresh off the back of a treble-winning campaign, Knowle were eager to set the tone for their first-ever Step 5 campaign early on in their first friendly - and Copeland's persistence led to the opening goal eight minutes in.

Copeland, who scored 34 goals and assisted another 15 for Knowle last season, used his predatory senses to nick the ball from young Mikes defender Aris Christophorou before calmly slotting home from close range.

Knowle continued to surprise a shell-shocked Boldmere and doubled their lead six minutes later through Barnes. The striker latched onto a lofted through ball and outmuscled Christophorou - a former Cyprus under-19 international who was named Player of the Season by Mikes manager Dan Roberts last term - before powering past goalkeeper Jonathan Brown.

Knowle almost added a third in the 17th minute when Brady Floyd cannoned an effort back off the crossbar after Copeland’s through ball, but Brown reacted quickest to keep out Barnes' follow-up.

The match officials must have watched a lot of the World Cup in the last few weeks because a hydration break was called for midway through the first half. That being said, it does seem like something that would benefit both clubs on a sunny evening in pre-season.

As has happened on several occasions throughout the tournament in North America, the stoppage saw the momentum shift for a few minutes and Boldmere were able to at least string a few passes together in their final third - even if they couldn't threaten Knowle stopper Matt Horton.

Horton was eventually called into action with seven minutes of the first half to play, the goalkeeper rushing low to his right to deny set piece specialist Jack Burgess from scoring a dangerous free-kick.

Joint-managers Matt and Clive Seeley made a raft of changes at half-time, handing new signing Lucas Edwards a debut on the left wing, and Boldmere made four alterations of their own five minutes after the restart.

The Robins kept their tempo high and Copeland doubled his tally for the night in stunning fashion shortly after the substitutions. A right-wing corner bounced around in the box before falling invitingly for the forward to curl home a beautiful effort from 20 yards, which Brown had no hope of stopping.

Edwards’ first real involvement came when Knowle added a fourth after the hour. A neat pass from Edwards allowed Parsons space in the box, from which he drove a low effort into the bottom-right corner.

There wasn’t a hydration break in the second half - you could only think that was heavily dictated by the drop in temperature - but Knowle knew they had done what was needed early on in the game. A professional showing in the closing stages preserved their clean sheet on a night where almost everything went exactly how they wanted it to.

The result and performance only add to the already exciting proposition of National League side Solihull Moors coming to town on Tuesday night as pre-season preparations continue. Kick-off at the Robins’ Nest is set for 7:45pm, with ticket details available across our social media channels.