Poor Start Costs Knowle Ladies

Knowle Ladies crashed to another defeat last weekend as they were beaten 5-1 away at Alvechurch.  A better second half showing gave them belief, but the damage had been done in the first period.

The home side went ahead as early as the third minute, when Alvechurch launched a long ball over the top that caught Knowle cold; the forward raced through to finish well.  The Robins did try to respond, and Trina Greaves sent a shot wide but the game became increasingly scrappy with most of the play in the midfield areas.  Jess Jenkinson made a great save to deny Alvechurch a second, but that only delayed proceedings. Knowle lost possession in a dangerous area, the cross came in and Morgan Betteridge could only divert the ball into her own net.  With sixteen minutes on the clock, Knowle looked in real trouble.

The closest Knowle came to clawing one back was when Nadia Bacciochi's corner swung towards goal and landed on top of the netting, but Alvechurch were definitely in the ascendency.  Their third goal came from another long ball forward; Jenkinson came from goal to try and clear but the angle simply allowed the forward to roll it into the unguarded net from distance. Half time saw the Robins go in three behind.

Knowle did improve in the second half and a bright start allowed Natalie Gibson to go close with a long range effort that the keeper did well to turn over.  Alvechurch then scored with their first real foray into the Knowle area, with the home side's striker producing a neat bit of skill to turn her marker and fire home. 

The Robins continued to try and take some sort of foothold in the game, and Bacciochi pulled a stunning save from the Alvechurch keeper on the 70 minute mark.  Darcey Garner looped in the resulting corner, and skipper Sam Smith was on hand to nod it into the corner of the net and pull one back for her team.

As the match entered the final stages, Knowle's thin squad began to tire and Alvechurch seized the majority of possession.  Their fifth and final goal did have a slice of luck involved; player of the match Carly Donnelly slid in to make a superb challenge on the attacker who had rounded Jenkinson, but the ball ricocheted between the two player and somehow trickled over the line.

The home side were well deserving of their comprehensive win however, and although Knowle saw some reasons to be positive in the second half, they know they will need to improve considerably in next week's return fixture.

Knowle:  Jenkinson, Phelps, Smith, Hughes, Betteridge (Donnelly, 30), Greaves (Noakes 45), Atter, Barlow, Rolph, Gibson, Bacciochi (Garner, 30).