Ladies Scrape Three Points

Sunday’s game will not be one that lives long in the memory at Knowle LFC; indeed it was potentially the poorest match supporters have seen all season. Neither side were able to create much in front of goal but, despite their subdued performance, the Robins were able to nick a 1-0 win courtesy of Demi Rolph’s penalty. Knowle welcomed back Lily Phelps from injury, and she was joined as substitute by Julia Zimmerman, Sarah Moore and Lucy Jones who had all kindly agreed to come back into the squad to give the team options from the bench.

Play was confined to midfield for much of the early stages of the game, with both sides struggling to keep possession. A corner each was the closest they came to threatening goal inside the first twenty minutes, but both came to nothing. It was Leamington with the first shot of the match, but Poppy Johnston-Smith’s attempt sailed well wide. Good work by Jess Barlow and Morgan Betteridge then gave Natalie Gibson some space just inside the penalty are but she also shot wide, when perhaps the square ball to Ebony Harris would have been the better option. 

The introduction of Sarah Moore up front gave Knowle more presence and she teed up Rolph soon after coming on, but the forward hit the bar with her powerful shot. The best chance of the half fell to Leamington; good work from Ava Barnes saw her beat the full back and float a cross in to Kiran Sangha, but she poked her effort wide of the post from close range with no Knowle marker in sight. Lucy Jones had added plenty of energy to the Knowle midfield, and Moore was able to set her up to strike too, but the shot flew over the crossbar. 

No score at half time then, and it was expected that Knowle would find another gear in the second period, but in truth it was even less productive. Leamington had more of the ball for the first 15minutes but were unable to muster a shot at goal thanks to strong defending by the Knowle backline. Another round of substitutions did briefly spark Knowle into life and they had a good spell, but Angela Wiffin in the Leamington dealt well with crosses from Betteridge and Camile Abbotts. 

The pivotal moment came halfway through the second period; Barlow worked the ball well to Bex Clarke storming forward on the right, she made her way into the box to strike at goal but the ball cannoned off Linda Riches' raised arm and the referee pointed to the spot. There was some delay to the penalty as Riches was sinbinned for her protests and Barnes very nearly followed, but Rolph kept her cool to slot it home and give her side the lead. 

Even with ten players for ten minutes, Leamington fought hard to get back on level terms but the pattern of the game did not change – no clear cut chances for either side. The away side’s best moment was a deep cross that flew all the way across goal but on every other occasion they made their way into Knowle’s penalty area, a Knowle defender was able to be first to the ball and clear. 

Just the one goal was enough to separate the sides at the final whistle then; for the visitors, a disappointing way to lose a game that had nil nil written all over it, and for Knowle a bonus three points. The two sides face each other again at the end of April and we expect another close game! Knowle are at home again on Sunday 9th April for the visit of Droitwich Spa FC.

Knowle: Smithwaite, Smallwood, Smith, Byrne, Harris (Zimmerman, 30), Clarke (Jones, 30), Gibson (Moore, 30), Abbotts (Phelps, 30), Betteridge, Rolph, Barlow.