Knowle sweep aside North Kilworth

George Revell reports as Knowle make it 18 league wins in a row to set up a crunch clash with Sutton United on Saturday…

Knowle kickstarted their centenary year by equalling the Midland Football League’s longest winning streak with an impressive 3-0 victory over North Kilworth at the Draintech Community Stadium on Tuesday night.

Hereford previously held the outright record of 18 matches but Knowle - who it must be said won promotion from Division Two (Step 7 of non-league) just last season - unbelievably haven’t dropped a single point since their 1-0 defeat at high-flying Sutton United in August, which only came via a gut-wrenching 96th-minute spot-kick.

Sutton, top of the table before this round of fixtures, could only manage a 1-1 draw against Ingles - and a Robins goal either side of half-time from George Seeley, along with a smart finish from influential forward Elliot Edwards, made sure their rivals were forced to surrender their spot at the top of the league.

Knowle asserted their title-chasing dominance in the first half before the dismissal of visiting right-back Harry Smith five minutes into the second half made the hosts’ life even easier.

After three postponements thanks to the unforgiving winter weather, Knowle were keen to get back on track as quickly as they could - and they almost won a penalty inside the opening 20 seconds when lively winger Talib Copeland was brought down in the box.

Copeland’s shirt was pulled by a visiting defender, and both players fell to the ground, but appeals for a penalty were soon waved away and play was restarted with a Knowle throw-in shortly after Killy hoofed the ball clear in panic.

Copeland created another opening for Knowle midway through the first half. The ball was worked across the width of the pitch before a neat pass from left-back Anton Powell set up Copeland, who weaved his way to the edge of the box before seeing his shot sail high above the crossbar.

Knowle came close again just three minutes later. Killy failed to properly deal with Hayden Purves’ right-wing cross and the ball eventually fell to Connor Mort, 20 yards from goal, who unleashed a shot which was inadvertently blocked by a team-mate in a packed penalty area.

There was even less time between that chance and the Robins finding the breakthrough. Dylon Bennett’s ball into the middle was smartly flicked on by Floyd - and top scorer Seeley wasn’t going to let this one go amiss. He ruthlessly lashed past Killy goalkeeper Tom Reeve to fire Knowle deservedly into the lead.

Killy’s best play came just after Knowle’s opener and they almost mustered a response on 31 minutes. A right-wing cross wasn’t properly dealt with and Jes Adcock was allowed the time and space to strike an effort at goal which, luckily for Knowle, couldn’t creep inside the left-hand post.

Knowle found a second after a goalmouth scramble three minutes before half-time. Killy couldn’t clear Seeley’s whipped cross from deep and Copeland had an effort saved before the ball eventually dropped kindly for Edwards to bundle in.

Tempers were high after the break and Copeland, who had been a menace all evening, was carelessly wiped out on the left-wing after all of 90 seconds.

Copeland received attention from the physio before, in an even worse manner, being taken down again in a very similar position within a minute of the restart.

That sparked a large confrontation between both sets of players on the touchline right in front of the clubhouse - and, crucially for Knowle, the end of the night for Killy right-back Smith, who had been tasked with marking Copeland.

Smith was given his marching orders and the visitors, already under the cosh, were down to 10 players.

Despite the extensive lengths the visitors went to in order to get him off the pitch, Copeland was able to continue and he might have been getting ahead of himself a little bit when he fired a shot high and wide in the 54th minute.

Killy will no doubt have been pleased to see the back of Copeland when he was given a rest shortly after the hour, but that wasn’t before he angered the visitors’ dugout even more with a tackle on their Jude Coates.

The rest of the game was, as you can probably imagine, pretty scrappy - but there was still time for Knowle to inflict further pain on their already-seething visitors.

After a whopping three minutes of continuous possession - and 47 passes without interruption - the Robins added a third in the 88th minute. Mort’s magnificent cross-field ball found Seeley, who set himself up before lashing into the bottom corner to put the final stamp on proceedings on what was a momentous night for Knowle.

With Sutton and Gornal Athletic both slipping up, the Robins are again now top of the league, with an incredible 64 points after 23 matches. Sutton sit in second place just one point behind but - crucially for Knowle - having played four games more, while Gornal have 60 points from the 23 they have played.

That sets the scene for what promises to be a huge top-of-the-table clash on Saturday afternoon, when Sutton visit B93 for a 3pm kick-off.

Can Knowle extend their lead at the top - and set a new record for the league’s longest ever winning streak?

Get yourself down to the Draintech and get the lads over the line!

Here’s what joint-manager Matt Seeley had to say when we spoke to him post-match…

“It was about time we kicked a football again after all the weather-related postponements. During that (enforced) break, though, we’ve kept the lads ticking over with extra training and gym sessions - and I thought that really showed, especially towards the end of the game,” Seeley commented.

He continued: “In truth, I felt we completely dominated the ball and could have been out of sight by half-time.

“North Kilworth actually improved a bit when they went down to 10 men; they seemed to dig in more and caused us a few more issues at the back.

“That said, the changes we made had a huge impact. The experience of Jack Duggan and Reece Hewitt coming on to settle us and keep everything ticking over was great to see.

“That makes it 18 wins in a row in the league - and I believe we’ve now matched Hereford’s record of 18 on the spin in the Prem (Midland Premier Division - Step 5 of non-league) from 10 seasons ago (2015/16).”

Seeley added: “To say we are beyond proud of everyone at the club would be an understatement.

“Onto Saturday against Sutton we go!”