FA Cup Adventure Ends

Knowle’s FA Cup campaign came to an end as they were comprehensively beaten by Lye Town on Sunday.

The rain put paid to the original venue, but Lye were able to secure a 4G pitch to get the game on. Knowle were forced into making a few changes due to half term absentees, but were able to call partial retirees Julia Stanton and Sarah Moore alongside Abi Morris from the U18s squad to fill the bench. The Robins started the game brightly and were soon on the attack. Lucy Jones fed Jess Barlow who skipped past the full back and earned a corner, and Emma Shaw hit the bar straight from the cross. The Lye goalkeeper also did well to parry an effort from Bex Clarke round the post. It was somewhat against the run of play when Lye scored with their first shot of the game; the left winger made a decisive drive forward and crossed for her opposite wide player who was flying into the box unmarked. Katy Smirthwaite made a great save from her first effort but the rebound hit the forward in the chest and bounced over the line to give Lye the lead. The game then became end to end, with both teams getting forward well but not quite getting their final ball or finish right. Another Shaw corner was headed clear by Lye’s centre half, and Smirthwaite had to be quick off her line to close down a 1v1 and block the shot. Natalie Gibson pulled off a great bit of skill to turn her defender and go clean through, but after rounding the keeper the angle became too narrow and the goalie recovered to stick out a leg and deflect Gibson’s shot for a corner.

Throughout the half, Knowle had a succession of corners but couldn’t quite get on the end of one, until Gibson’s header was blocked on the line by the player on the post and bounced away off the underside of the bar. 38 minutes into the game, Lye earned their first corner and they punished Knowle’s failure to clear when the attacker looped an effort over Smirthwaite into the far corner. At 2-0, Knowle felt they were still in the game and Rolph had a great chance to pull one back when she latched onto Poppy Wheatstone’s through ball, but the defender recovered well to block. A killer blow came just before half time – a harsh free kick given on the edge of the penalty area, Knowle did not set up their wall correctly and the taker was able to pick out the bottom corner.

Knowle may well have felt the half time score line of 3-0 did not reflect the game so far, but as it turned out, the second half certainly belonged to Lye. They started on the front foot and squashed any hopes the away side had of getting back into the game with an early goal. It was the left wing/right wing combo that worked well again with the deep cross volleyed home unchallenged at the back post. On the rare occasion Knowle broke down Lye's backline, Jess Barlow’s attempt was saved by the keeper when on a rare occasion. The resulting corner came to nothing when Sam Smith got studs stuck in the turf and had to poke the ball out of play to get treatment. The game then became tetchy and Rolph was cautioned alongside a Lye player for some verbals and a scuffle on the hour mark.  The ball pinballed around midfield for the next phase of the game, with the referee stopping play several times for pushes and pulls and neither side getting anywhere. Ten minutes after her first yellow, Rolph saw another one and the inevitable red for a tackle that may have won the ball, but was deemed to use excessive force.

Lye took full advantage of the extra player from then on in and kept Knowle at bay easily.  Knowle changed shape to keep them out, but it left them with too much to do to get forward and support in possession. There was an element of luck about the home side’s fifth goal, Smirthwaite caught in two minds whether to catch or parry a speculative long range attempt, but the sixth was incisive. A one-two down that left side once again, the cut back to the onrushing midfielder who rifled her finish into the bottom corner. Knowle fought out the last minutes of the game, but could have no complaints about being beaten by a better side.

The FA Cup adventure ends there for another year then, thank you to everyone who came across to support the side and in particular, Claire and Freya who drove up from Essex to represent sponsors Agility Life Sciences and cheer on the team!  Knowle will turn their attention to their League Cup campaign next week with a home tie against Droitwich, looking to go one better than last year’s semi final!

Knowle: Smirthwaite, Shaw, Smith, Byrne, Betteridge, Clarke, Gibson, Jones, Rolph, Wheatstone, Barlow.

Subs: Moore (for Wheatstone, 55), Stanton (for Betteridge, 70), Morris (for Jones, 70)