Ladies Hit Seven in FA Cup Triumph

It was a long road trip to Sleaford in Lincolnshire for Knowle Ladies on Sunday but the bus came back bouncing after the team produced a scintillating performance to go sailing through to the First Round Proper of the FA Cup!

The first five minutes of the game were a little frantic from both sides as Knowle got used to the sandy pitch and Sleaford were buoyed by the enthusiasm of a noisy home support.  Once the Robins settled however, they dominated the game and looked dangerous whenever they flew forward.  Kate Fleming had a early sight of goal and Sophie Noakes saw a gilt edged chance flick up off a bobble and go wide.  Sleaford also had to defend two Knowle corners well.  Strangely the opener came from a Sleaford counter attack after another corner; the Greens flew forward but were stopped in their tracks by Molly Hughes.  She played the ball back to keeper Jess Jenkinson, who played a clever reverse ball out to Morgan Betteridge on the left wing.  Betteridge clipped a pass forward to Demi Rolph and the forward raced through to beat the Sleaford keeper 1v1.

Knowle's midfield were now well in the ascendency and Sleaford found it difficult to deal with their energy and determination to win possession.  The Robins second came via an aggressive press, Jess Barlow blocked an attempted clearance and Katie Atter slid the loose ball into Rolph's path.  She beat the keeper once more but the pitch slowed her shot right down - thankfully for Knowle, Noakes had followed in and had an easy tap in.  Sleaford continuing to defend with gusto, the home side's keeper made a superb save from Trina Greaves' shot, and then Barlow hit the post under heavy pressure from a pack of defenders throwing themselves in front of her in the centre of the penalty area. Noakes had one cleared off the line but Sleaford couldn't hold out much longer against the onslaught.  This time it was Greaves finishing off a fine move involving Atter feeding Fleming whose inch perfect through ball set her fellow midfielder through on goal with plenty of time to pick her spot. 3-0 the halftime score and Knowle looked to be in total control.

It did not take the away side much time after the break to completely kill the game off.  Once again Atter won possession; she set the ball back to Sam Smith and the centre half floated a long pass into Noakes, running in behind between the full back and centre half.  The winger confidently lashed the ball into the net for her second of the game and Knowle's fourth. The Robins were then able to bring their strong bench into play, with Natalie Gibson replacing Greaves, but this bought no respite for Sleaford.  The ever classy Gibson was soon in the action, collecting Lily Phelps' pass and finding the tiniest gap to tee up Noakes to complete her hattrick. The youngster's work done for the day, she departed to generous applause from all the crowd...and was named player of the match after the final whistle.

Her replacement Ella Bridges was in the thick of things immediately; within five minutes of being on the pitch she was completely upended twice, got booked for kicking a ball away and danced through the Sleaford midfield at ease.  Everything went through Bridges for that period, so it was no surprise when she created Knowle's sixth of the afternoon with probably the best pass of the day.  It was fellow substitute Gibson who profitted from the midfielder's vision to score her first of the season.

Knowle's final goal came from the scorer of the opener; Rolph wriggled into space out on the right wing and hit a speculative cross/shot that flew into the far corner of the net. At seven nil down, Sleaford could have been forgiven for throwing in the towel but to their credit, they threw caution to the wind and went for the consolation goal.  The Robins found themselves under more pressure than they had been all game, and the Greens managed to test them with some good interplay in the final third.  Jenkinson was more than equal to the couple of shots on target, and Carly Donnelly used her pace to good effect to track back and make an important tackle. Knowle saw out the remaining minutes and celebrated accordingly at the final whistle.

Their reward for the performance and win is a home tie against West Bromwich Albion on 3rd November, 2pm kick off!

Knowle: Jenkinson, Phelps (Donnelly 77), Smith, Hughes, Betteridge, Atter, Fleming, Barlow (Bridges 70), Greaves (Gibson 60), Rolph (Balder 77), Noakes (Severin 70).