GIBSON AND FLEMING SEAL GOOD WIN FOR THE LADIES

“Start strong” was the message in the pre-match Knowle LFC huddle. When Natalie Gibson teed up Camile Abbott to smash a thunderbolt shot against the inside of the post not thirty seconds into the match, it was clear the Robins had done just that. In truth, Kingfisher could not deal with Knowle in the first twenty minutes of the game and the home side should really have notched two or three goals in order that the score line reflected their dominance. Maz Byrne was centimetres away from connecting with a Gibson corner on the back post and Poppy Wheatstone was denied by the keeper coming quick off her line. Knowle were getting plenty of joy on the right side with Abbotts combining well with Morgan Betteridge and her crosses into the box were pinpoint. She picked out Wheatstone first, who struck her shot over the bar, before Jess Barlow was eased out of a simple tap in by good defending on the back post. Knowle finally got their goal from a neat passage of play, left back Rach Keen drove forward before releasing Jess Barlow into the channel. She squared across goal to Gibson who drilled it into the corner of the net for a one nil lead.  

To their credit, Kingfisher regrouped and changed their shape which bought them back into the game; the remaining twenty minutes of the half was a far more even affair. The Kingfisher forward beat the Knowle backline but fired wide and Katy Smirthwaite had to scurry across her goal to beat away a long range attempt. Kingfisher’s corner delivery also looked dangerous, but the close attentions of the Knowle defenders meant that when a forward did connect, there was no power behind the header. Knowle finished the half well themselves, Wheatstone going one on one with the keeper who half blocked her attempt and the defender was able to mop up. The goalie also made a great double save from Gibson late on, after Abbotts had returned the favour from early on and set her up for a pile driver. 

The second half began in much the same fashion as the first – Knowle should have had the ball in the net in the first minute. Barlow played in Alice Belcher, but she screwed her shot wide…it was actually her first touch of the game after coming on as a sub at halftime. Another Gibson corner was then clipped straight to Kate Fleming but she couldn’t connect properly and the resulting loose ball was cleared. Knowle were able to bring on yet more quality from the bench in the form of the two Lucys – Jones and Horsburgh gave the home side a different option out wide right, but the second goal actually came from the left. Barlow and Belcher traded passes, before squaring across the edge of box to Fleming and she bent her shot past the keeper for her first Knowle goal. The Robins were then perhaps guilty of taking their foot off the pedal, plus Kingfisher threw caution to the wind to chase the game. The away side were unlucky not to get a goal in the last twenty minutes; firstly they had an attempt from a corner cleared off the line by the alert Barlow and Knowle eventually cleared the resulting scramble. Soon after, the Kingfisher forward ran clear through to a ball that had flicked off two Knowle defenders, she beat Smirthwaite but her shot thudded against the base of the post. Tiah Underhill also saved Knowle when the Kingfisher skipper, who had been excellent all afternoon, raced through – debutant Underhill was quick to react and cover her backline colleagues, snuffing out the danger. Her fellow new signing Horsburgh nearly grabbed a third for Knowle when she nipped between the away team’s keeper and defender, but the goalie recovered well to block the shot. In the last few minutes of the game, Knowle peppered the Kingfisher goal with attempts, but the keeper comfortably saved efforts from Emma Shaw, Gibson and Jones. Shaw’s resulting corner from one such attempt also found Belcher unmarked, but her effort flew over the bar.  

Knowle had to be content with a 2-0 win then, but another clean sheet and plenty of chances created showed they had played well against dangerous opposition. Next week it’s the big FA Cup game against Loughborough – kick off 2pm on Sunday, all support welcome! 

Knowle: Smirthwaite, Keen, Smith, Byrne, Betteridge, Barlow, Fleming, Holland, Abbotts, Gibson, Wheatstone.

Subs: Belcher (for Abbotts, 45), Horsburgh (for Holland, 45), Jones (for Wheatstone, 65), Underhill (for Betteridge, 71), Shaw (for Barlow, 77).