Out come the teams As I was already in the Midlands on Tuesday, it seemed like a reasonable idea to head over to Walsall in the evening to take in the final of the Les James Challenge Cup, being played at Walsall's Banks's Stadium.
The Background
A little pre-match research showed that, of the two sides, it was Knowle who had the greater pedigree in the competition, although it had been a while since they manged to take the trophy home. In the 1996-97 season they had won the cup 5-4 on penalties after drawing 3-3 with Kings Heath. Borough, although not yet victors, had made the final just two season's previously, going down 2-1 to Paget Rangers.
Progress in this season's competition (thanks to the very informative match-day programme for making this research very easy) looked like this:
Knowle - FC Shush (h) 3-3 (5-4 pens), GNP SPorts (a) 3-3 (P), Birmingham Tigers (h) 3-0, Enville Athletic (a) 1-0
Borough - Feckenham (h) 5-1, Bolmere Sports & Social (h) 1-0, Continental Star (a) 1-0, Inkberrow (h) 4-0
League-wise neither side has set the world alight this season. Knowle finished in 8th spot with 42 points. Borough four places and ten points lower. The two league meetings had both ended in home wins, Redditch winning 2-1 and Knowle 3-0, giving no real indication of the possible outcome on a neutral ground. Interestingly, both sides had played Coventry Alvis in their final league outings and both had lost. Knowle went down 2-1 whilst Borough had been beaten 6-1 on their own patch.
The Background
A little pre-match research showed that, of the two sides, it was Knowle who had the greater pedigree in the competition, although it had been a while since they manged to take the trophy home. In the 1996-97 season they had won the cup 5-4 on penalties after drawing 3-3 with Kings Heath. Borough, although not yet victors, had made the final just two season's previously, going down 2-1 to Paget Rangers.
Progress in this season's competition (thanks to the very informative match-day programme for making this research very easy) looked like this:
Knowle - FC Shush (h) 3-3 (5-4 pens), GNP SPorts (a) 3-3 (P), Birmingham Tigers (h) 3-0, Enville Athletic (a) 1-0
Borough - Feckenham (h) 5-1, Bolmere Sports & Social (h) 1-0, Continental Star (a) 1-0, Inkberrow (h) 4-0
League-wise neither side has set the world alight this season. Knowle finished in 8th spot with 42 points. Borough four places and ten points lower. The two league meetings had both ended in home wins, Redditch winning 2-1 and Knowle 3-0, giving no real indication of the possible outcome on a neutral ground. Interestingly, both sides had played Coventry Alvis in their final league outings and both had lost. Knowle went down 2-1 whilst Borough had been beaten 6-1 on their own patch.
The Bank's Stadium
The Game
It was Redditch, playing in their change kit of all blue, who made the better start of the two sides with Jak Albutt immediately making a real nuisance of himself with his bustling, battling style. However, they failed to make the most of their good start, allowing Knowle to gradually work their way back into the game.
It was Redditch, playing in their change kit of all blue, who made the better start of the two sides with Jak Albutt immediately making a real nuisance of himself with his bustling, battling style. However, they failed to make the most of their good start, allowing Knowle to gradually work their way back into the game.
Early lead Then, as so often happens when a side has been on the back foot for a while, Knowle suddenly looked the more dangerous, forcing a corner on their right after 24 minutes. The ball was delivered into a dangerous area where it was met by a Knowle head. Only a slight deflection prevented a goal, the ball clipping the top of the bar and going for another corner. Borough, however, did not learn their lesson and, when this corner was delivered deeper, towards the back post, it was met by the head of Louis Bridges, who powered the ball back across the keeper and into the far corner. 1-0.
Quickfire Double Redditch, after looking the better side for the opening 15 minutes, found themselves behind and wobbling a little. Five minutes after going a goal behind, they really should have conceded again. A move down the Knowle left flank led to a cross finding their number 8, unmarked in the box but he couldn't get his header on target when he maybe should have scored. A let off for Borough, and one that they capitalised on after 35 minutes when they were awarded a penalty. Billy Garvey stepped up and calmly slotted home the spot-kick. 1-1
The boot was now firmly back on the other foot with Redditch winning the ball back almost immediately from the restart, raiding down their left flank. The cross was delivered over to the back post and was then hooked back into the mix where Khurum Iqbal was on hand to steer the ball low past Johnson's despairing dive to make it 1-2. A great turnaround from the Robins.
HT Knowle 1 Redditch Borough 2. Redditch deserve their lead and have been the better side despite conceding the first goal.
The boot was now firmly back on the other foot with Redditch winning the ball back almost immediately from the restart, raiding down their left flank. The cross was delivered over to the back post and was then hooked back into the mix where Khurum Iqbal was on hand to steer the ball low past Johnson's despairing dive to make it 1-2. A great turnaround from the Robins.
HT Knowle 1 Redditch Borough 2. Redditch deserve their lead and have been the better side despite conceding the first goal.
Knowle pile on the pressure It's hard to know what to write about the second-half. Knowle came out with a steely determination to get themselves back on level terms and, to their credit, the majority of the half was played in the Borough half of the pitch. However, Redditch defended resolutely whilst still looking quite dangerous on the break. Knowle, despite all of their efforts, just could not find a way through the Borough back-line and Redditch were able to see out the half, including 7 minutes of stoppage time, to take the trophy for the first time.
FT Knowle 1 Redditch Borough 2. Great spirit from Redditch to fight back from a goal down but Knowle showed equal spirit in their second half performance. It was hard to separate them sides overall and a shame that there had to be a loser.
Knowle (from): Bridges, Cullen, Davis, Else, Ingram, Payne, Powell, Ruck, Seeley, Weeks, Johnson. Subs: Ajayi, Brooks, Healey, Fox, Oakley
Redditch Borough: Gandy, Turner, Bruce, Iqbal, Hatfield (c), Denham, Westwood, Hall, Albutt, Garvey, Wilkinson. Subs: Bennett, Birch, Sargent, Davies, Ruppenthal, Smith
Att: 203
Ground Number: 199
Entrance: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
FT Knowle 1 Redditch Borough 2. Great spirit from Redditch to fight back from a goal down but Knowle showed equal spirit in their second half performance. It was hard to separate them sides overall and a shame that there had to be a loser.
Knowle (from): Bridges, Cullen, Davis, Else, Ingram, Payne, Powell, Ruck, Seeley, Weeks, Johnson. Subs: Ajayi, Brooks, Healey, Fox, Oakley
Redditch Borough: Gandy, Turner, Bruce, Iqbal, Hatfield (c), Denham, Westwood, Hall, Albutt, Garvey, Wilkinson. Subs: Bennett, Birch, Sargent, Davies, Ruppenthal, Smith
Att: 203
Ground Number: 199
Entrance: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
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