LADIES MAKE A GOOD START

Knowle Ladies kicked off their 21/22 season with a good win on the road, beating Droitwich Spa LFC 1-3 on a hot, dry and hard pitch. 

The Robins started brightly and it did not take long for them go ahead. On five minutes, Annie Stanway showed good feet to pick her way past the midfield line then slipped a perfect through ball into Demi Rolph and the young forward gleefully slotted it past the keeper. The home side then came into the game themselves, forcing a series of corners that Knowle had to head away and then hitting a free kick over the bar. They were rewarded for their pressure when Knowle did fail to clear a corner; the ball dropping kindly at the feet of a Droitwich forward who picked her spot well and fired in at the unguarded near post. 

This seemed to wake Knowle up again and they pushed forward with determination. Alice Belcher fizzed a shot just over the bar before Stanway forced an excellent save from the home keeper. It was all Knowle now, and they produced a fine passage of play to shift the ball all the way across from full back Morgan Betteridge on the left side through midfield and onto the right sided full back Jess Holland on the edge of the box. Her shot was again well saved by the Droitwich keeper who suffered a finger injury pushing the ball round the post. After a lengthy stoppage, the home side were forced into changing keepers and the substitute helped steer her side safely through to half time.

Knowle knew they needed goals to reflect their dominance, but were able to come out for the second half calmly and kept the ball better than they had in the first period. Tidy interplay between Ella Black and Rolph set up Camile Abbotts, who had come on to make her debut for the Ladies, but the keeper was able to tip her fierce shot over the bar. From the resulting corner, Belcher sent her header over the bar. Knowle were able to work plenty of space out on the left wing, beating the full back on numerous occasions, but they couldn’t quite force a goal from the resulting crosses, Droitwich defending stoutly. The Robins thought they had gone ahead with a large slice of luck when Sam Smith thundered a volleyed clearance downfield from inside her own half and the high bounce beat the keeper, but she was able to scramble back and retrieve the ball on the goal line according to the referee. 

Knowle finally got a deserved goal following some free flowing football on the right side; Rolph and Abbotts exchanged a number of one two passes to make space and break into the penalty area. The Droitwich defender desperately tried to deal with Abbotts’ shot but only succeeded in diverting it into the net to put Knowle 2-1 up. By this point Knowle were enjoying themselves and player of the match Stanway was popping up and causing problems all over the pitch. Her long range effort went wide before she teed up Kate Fleming to force another save from the keeper. Stanway eventually got the goal her performance deserved on the 86minute mark; Knowle were awarded an indirect free kick inside the box and Stanway stepped up to the tap from Rolph to smash the ball into the top left corner. 

Three points were the main aim for this first game, but Knowle can also be pleased with their performance and fitness. Next week sees them at home in the FA Cup against Darlaston – spectators welcome for a 2pm kick off!