Football
Robins lay down the law

West Midlands Police 1 Knowle 3

Midland Combination Division One

TWO second half goals helped Knowle return to winning ways on Saturday with a 3-1 victory against a much improved Police outfit.

The victory leaves Knowle third in the table, four points behind second placed Blackwood having played two games more and eight behind leaders Littleton having played two games less.

A bright start from the visitors saw Jonathon Jackson-Bereray holding the ball up well in attack whilst wide men Tom Cartwright and Mykey Pryce were causing problems with their pace.

It was Pryce who opened the scoring when latching on to a fine Craig Nicholls pass and holding off a defender before slotting past the keeper.

The remainder of the first half was an even affair with both sides having half chances which neither could convert.

The Police, who are eighth in the table, made a dream start to the second half, drawing level with just five minutes gone when a free kick flew into the top corner, giving Chris Knott no chance.

Both sides were pushing hard for the crucial third goal of the game and it eventually went Knowle’s way with 20 minutes left when Steve Jones’ defence splitting pass found Nicholls to finish deftly with a neat volley.

The hosts began throwing more bodies forward in search of an equaliser which played into Knowle’s hands as they had space in behind for their speedy forwards to capitalise on and it the scoring was completed from a counter attack when skipper Matt Shakespeare scored the goal of the game. He powered past two players before lashing a left foot strike into the bottom corner.

KNOWLE were scheduled to entertain Henley Forest in the third round of the Les James Cup on Saturday but the game has been postponed due to the Robins having three players selected for the Midland Combination Division One Representative team.

The Representative side will tackle the Lincolnshire League at Bromsgrove Sporting’s Victoria Ground and the Robins’ Matt Shakespeare, Steve Jones and Mykey Pryce have all been selected.

Goalkeeper Chris Knott was also chosen as part of the squad but injury has forced him to drop out of the squad.