Robins End Town's Home Record

Ronald Crane reports from The Pavillions

2023 was ushered in at The Pavilions with a cracking game of football on a very heavy pitch, certainly not conducive to attractive, passing, football. But that is exactly what the two teams served up for the large crowd. Town had played only once since the 3rd December, The Robins not at all. 

Right from the off The Robins took the match to their hosts. The match was so packed with incidents, that I almost ran out of paper to record them. Although Town did start brightly enough, it was The Robins who caught the eye, with their energy, ability to pass on a difficult playing surface, and tactical acumen. Jack Mullen was everywhere. Kartel O’Neil Martin was making a real nuisance of himself, with Nathan Corry dragging the defence out wide. Dylon Bennett and Jack Ricketts ran the midfield with Charlie Morris making it three when not assisting the front men.

At the back Lewis Clarke was a real rock, ably assisted by Ben Jones, Hayden Seymour, and Christian McArdle. The Man of the Match could have been any one of them. But two goal O’Neil Martin was awarded the prize.

Although The Robins ran the show for the first forty-five minutes, we had to wait until the 28th minute for a goal, even then it was a scrappy affair. Charlie Morris sent over a cross from the right, and with a host of defenders to cope with, Nathan Corry managed to squeeze the ball home. Town heads dropped, and they did not really respond until after the break.

In that first-half, The Robins had a host of clear cut chances, seven in fact. All were wasted. The talk at the break was whether the visitors would rue those missed chances. Town’s ‘Keeper Paul Evans had been magnificent in preventing Knowle scoring more than that single goal.

Town were a different side in the second-half. They pushed The Robins back, and it was all hands to the pump to keep them out. But the salient point is the Knowle defence was rock-like and restricted Town only a couple of real chances – even then custodian Johnson was up to the mark.

Gradually The Robins re-gained control of the match. Twenty minutes into the second-half they were awarded a Penalty which Kartel O’Neil Martin dispatched with ease. Ten minutes later he doubled his score to put the match to bed with a wonderful effort from eighteen yards, after being beautifully fed by Jack Mullen. As Town had pushed for that equaliser, The Robins had been content to soak up the pressure and play on the break. The ploy worked rather well. Indeed it could have been four goals had Referee Rodwell awarded the late Penalty that Knowle’s players, bench, and supporters wanted. 

This was a fantastic match, and both sides would not disgrace MFL Division One. 

Knowle: Johnson; Jones (Barrett); Seymour; Clarke; McArdle ©; Bennett; Morris (Jennings); Ricketts; Mullen; O’Neil Martin [63p] [75]; Corry [28] (Staley). Sub not used: M Seeley.