Ladies Pay the Price

Both sides had been eagerly awaiting this fixture and the game lived up to its billing, a fine advert for WMRFL football. That will be no consolation to the Knowle side however, who went away wondering how they had lost the game.

Knowle started very brightly, pushing Solihull back into their own half and dominating possession. The away side defended stoutly however, clearing any danger away from their penalty area and not allowing any clear cut chances for the first fifteen minutes. Poppy Wheatstone was first to try her luck for Knowle when a bit of space did open up, hitting a speculative effort from the edge of the area that the Solihull keeper handled confidently. The next chance was far more clear cut; an incisive Knowle move involving Wheatstone and midfielders Gina Burton and Annie Stanway carved straight through Sporting to find Jess Barlow in acres of space at the back post. She set herself well but sliced her shot just wide of the upright. Solihull then went ahead with their first attack of the game on fifteen minutes; a cross field ball found it’s way to the number ten 25 yards from goal. She hit an early shot and there seemed to be no danger as it bounced through to the Knowle goal, but the previously inactive keeper Katy Smirthwaite misjudged it and it bobbled through her arms and into the net. That galvanised Sporting and they won a couple of corners which Knowle cleared well. The game was now swinging end to end. Wheatstone was outpacing the Sporting defence and she swung a great cross in that just evaded Alice Belcher and Stanway, before the Sporting forward wriggled free on the edge of the box and forced Smirthwaite to push away her shot. Knowle made a double substitution and bought Demi Rolph and Natalie Gibson on to add pace and guile, and Rolph nearly made an immediate impact when she went one on one with the keeper, but the goalie blocked her attempt and gathered the loose ball.  Jess Holland's performance at right back was excellent throughout and she saved Knowle with some important cover work, whipping the ball off the toes of the forward when she could have been clean through. There was just enough time remaining in the half for Gibson to tee Stanway up but her shot was saved by the goalkeeper, then the half finished with a bizarre offside decision that stopped Belcher in her tracks as she raced onto Burton’s through ball.

Knowing they needed to go for a win, Knowle switched formation and the new shape enabled them to put more pressure on Sporting by increasing numbers up top. Rolph was a constant thorn in the away side’s defence and Gibson able to play her in beyond the backline to shoot at goal on a couple of occasions. The keeper proved equal to one attempt and the other flew into the side netting however.  Burton was also dictating play in the middle of the park during a sparkling debut and she got her reward on the hour mark when she got on the end of a fine Knowle move; Gibson played in Rolph who skipped past her defender and squared for Burton to fire home the equaliser. Solihull nearly struck back immediately with a free kick that flew across the face of goal, but from that point on it was all Knowle. The Solihull keeper made a terrific double save, blocking Burton’s first attempt then flying across goal to deny Rolph with the rebound. Gibson and Burton combined with a flurry of passes which led to the latter squaring for Rolph to knock into the net, but she was called offside. The keeper was back in action soon after, saving Burton’s low attempt with an outstretched foot. As Knowle pushed forward, Solihull were able to exploit a bit of space and their forward should have done better when played in but she hurried her shot and blazed over the bar. Knowle defence were standing firm though, Maz Byrne and Sam Smith sweeping up any danger when the team in blue did attack. However, it looked like they may score another strange goal when a cross swung in the wind to squeeze between Smirthwaite and the front post, but to Knowle’s relief it floated across goal and bounced off the base of the far post. The Robins then went agonisingly close again; Stanway’s attempt was palmed back towards goal, but the keeper somehow scrambled back to claw it away despite the Knowle players’ appeals and Belcher’s attempt to make sure the ball crossed the white line. As time began to run out, Knowle continued to press and Sporting played long when they could, winning a corner from one such counter attack. The first header bounced back off the bar straight to the attacker’s feet and she gleefully smashed it home to give her side a 1-2 lead in the 90th minute. Knowle were unable to create anything clear in the last minute to leave Solihull celebrating.

A great game for the neutral to watch, but Knowle will be left rueing those missed chances and wondering what might have been. The win puts Sporting in pole position for the league title, but the Robins will continue to chase them all the way. They play again at home in the league next week, facing Rugby Town in a 2pm kick off.

Line up: Smirthwaite, Keen, Smith, Byrne, Holland, Barlow, Fleming, Burton, Stanway, Belcher, Wheatstone.

Subs: Gibson (for Wheatstone, 25), Rolph (for Barlow, 25).

Unused: Betteridge, Harris, Horsburgh.