EARLSWOOD TOWN 2 KNOWLE 0

Earlswood Town welcomed local rivals Knowle to Malt House lane on Easter Bank Holiday Monday and took all three points by virtue of a 2-0 victory. The visitors were slightly on top for the first ten minutes although Earls had the chances to open the scoring. In fact they took the lead in the 12th minute when Jamie Roberts was put away by James Giblin and he slotted the ball home past the oncoming goalkeeper. Earls increased their lead in the 18th minute when Dakari Mapp was fed a long ball by Martin Campbell and took it round the keeper before slotting it into the net. In the 28th minute a long range effort was sent in by Jonathan Windle beating the visitor’s keeper but a defender headed clear. Knowle were awarded a free kick in the 41st minute but Daniel Rushe made a good save in the Earlswood goal who 2 minutes later was on hand to save again from a long range effort.
H.T. 2-0
Earlswood started on top in the early stages of the second half and a good centre from Danny Holiday just eluded Dakari Mapp as he came running in. At the other end a good cross from a Knowle attacker took a deflection but Rushe just got a hand the ball to deflect it out for a corner. In the 53rd minute the visitors were awarded a free kick just outside the Earls penalty box but this hit the defensive wall and was cleared. The Knowle skipper was sent off in the 76th minute for bringing down James Giblin when he was through on goal but Giblins well taken free kick was well saved by the visitors keeper. As the game petered out Knowle did have a shot deflected onto the Earls cross bar but Earlswood played out the game to take all three points.

John Sharpe.

Press Officer.