Written By Declan McCarthy Twitter: @dec11mcc
After an evenly matched first half Keith Hill’s men scored three second half goals against Badshot Lea on a cold and wet night at Redding Way.
A brace from Robbie Kersley and a late Jimmy Norman goal secured a comfortable victory for the Knappers. The win pushes Knaphill up into 11th position in the Combined Counties Premier Division.
Kersley, captain on the night for Knaphill, was a level above the rest as he stood strong and came alive in the second half spurring his team on to win their eighth home league game of the season.
However, it was the visitors who started on the front foot – In particular, Gav Muir. The pacey-striker should have put the visitors ahead in the 26th minute as he broke through but flashed his shot across the six-yard-area. The pressure was on Knaphill, and from a corner Badshot were denied by a goal line clearance after Richard Shelley was beaten in a goal mouth scramble.
Following the break and a few words in the dressing room, Knaphill came out of the blocks, quicker, faster and more organised – particularly when going forward.
Knaphill pressured Badshot Lea and did this effectively as Kersley slipped through and slotted home his first of the night.
The second goal came following some disastrous defending from Badshot, Kersley picked the ball up in midfield, from 30 yards out, he lobbed keeper Peckham who was caught out of position in between the sticks.
Hill made 3 changes in the course of the match; Charlie Postance, Josh Coke and Jimmy Norman. All three, in the end, gave Knaphill that extra dynamic edge over their opponents in the latter stages of the match.
Despite this, Coke did produce a contender for miss of the season as the substitute sliced his shot wide of an empty net but the good came in Jimmy Norman.
Following a few bad injuries this season that have kept to striker out of action, Norman entered the pitch in style and within 5 minutes he scored a wonderful goal. The striker blitzed through the shoddy Badshot Lea defence, Norman then picked his spot and chipped the ball perfectly over Peckham from close range.
It was a disappointing second half performance from the visitors. The first half may have been the reason for that, in the second half the team looked tired, lethargic and left without any steam up-front.
Nonetheless, the diehard attitude Badshot Lea showed in the 1st half once again occurred in the very late stages of the match as Shelley was forced to make a crucial save from Muir. The Knaphill keeper dived down well to deny the striker and most importantly keep a clean sheet.
Knaphill are back in action this Saturday when they take on Epson and Ewell. You can follow all the coverage on that match LIVE on Radio Woking this Saturday from 2pm.
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