Away-day blues for Sporting again, this time they failed to get any points against Knowle. Things got off to a bad start for the visitors when striker Chris Conway twisted his ankle on a heavy pitch whilst warming up. He was replaced by up front by debutant Mickey Stewart, whilst at the back Mike Thurbon played his first match and there was a welcome return for Chris Mole between the sticks returning from a twelve-month injury spell.
Despite the wintry conditions, both teams played lively football with Sporting getting their first chance on the fourth minute when Keith J Draper's shot went just over the bar. But it was the home side who took the lead somewhat against the run of play on the 16th minute when referee Mr Williscroft saw an infringement resulting in yellow card for Mike Thurbon and a penalty that Craig Nichols easily converted.
Sporting pressed forward and got their reward fourteen minutes later when Dan Wilkes was bundled over in the Knowle box for a penalty that Joe Brookes hit into the top left hand corner.
Knowle could then consider themselves unlucky when they had a couple of shots cleared of the line but took the lead again on thirty-three minutes. It could not have been easier, burly centre-back Steve Jones cleared out of defence to an unmarked James Cartwright on the left-wing he crossed to Jonathan Jackson-Bereray who easily slotted past Chris Mole with the visitors defence several yards up field.
Sporting again equalised five minutes before half time with a well-worked move that saw Nick Harris and Keith J Draper open up the Knowle defence with a good ball to Nick Martin who tapped in from a few yards out.
With sleet and rain making the pitch even heavier, the second half was played at a more sedate pace. The home side relied on a well-marshalled defence and quick breaks and that worked to their advantage when they took the lead again six minutes after the interval. Impressive left-winger James Cartwright received a good pass and got behind a disorganised Sporting defence before hitting an angled shot that bounced off both posts before rolling behind the line.
From then on neither side really looked as if they were going to score though Sporting probably went closer with a couple of efforts from Joe Brookes and one from Keith J Draper that hit the bar.
So Sporting now drop down to sixth place in the league and they could not complain about today's result, Knowle were the better side particularly in the second half.
Knowle: Chris Knott, Richard Collins, Ian Wood, Paul Farnell, Steve Jones, Matthew Shakespeare (capt), Anton Astley (Buto Sibanda 72 mins), Nick Oakley, Jonathan Jackson-Beary (Steve Lynch 82 mins), Craig Nicholls, James Cartwright.
Subs not used: Mike Lys, Dave Yeend, Jason Hall.
Sporting: Chris Mole, Craig Jones, Nick Harris, Nick Martin, Mike Thurbon, Joe Brookes (capt), Keith J Draper, Dan Wilkes (Ryan Molesworth 53 mins), Mickey Stewart, Peter Jenvey, Chris Bright.
Subs not used: Chris Conway, Gareth Rogers, Neil Cooksey. |