The Knights started this match strongly, attacking straight from the starting whistle, forcing the Saints to defend early; a Knights attack started with Powell racing down the wing, passing the ball to Holloway who chipped the ball to Sellitto. Sellitto crossed the ball into the danger zone where Doel rose and headed the ball goal-ward; finding the back of the net 1-0 Knights. From the heart of the Knights defence Komboni sent Sellitto on route towards the Saints goal, he slipped the ball through to Holloway who fired in a powerful shot, but the Saints keeper reacted well to save a goal bound effort. As the Knights forced the play again, Owen neatly passed the ball to Holland, who, using the wing, quickly found himself in a position to cross. As Holland sent the ball into the penalty area Holloway flicked the ball into the net, giving the Knights an early 2-0 lead. This never stopped the Saints from attacking the Knights goal, but Blackbourn, Courtnage, Garland, Komboni and Owen stood firm, and quickly stopped this promising attack, which forced the Saints to concede a throw-in, just inside their own half. Quickly taken by Komboni, Owen collected and released Holloway towards goal; Holloway skipped past a defender before passing to Sellitto, Sellitto let fly but the Saints keeper saved, but just couldn’t hold onto the ball – Doel pounced and scored the Knights 3rd goal of the match. In another Knights attack the Saints cleared for a corner, Holloway took and because of the amount of players in the Saints penalty area, they were unable to clear; Owen took full advantage and fired home the 4th Knights goal. Credit to the Saints because they never stopped fighting and soon found themselves deep in the Knights half of the pitch, and as a pass looked like it would find a Saints attacker, Courtnage intercepted and quickly released Owen up-field. Owen and Sellitto combined, neatly sending the ball back to Courtnage – he launched a long ball forward for Holloway to chase. As Holloway rounded a Saints defender he fired goal-ward, but again the Saints keeper saved well, but due to the conditions, couldn’t hold the ball – Sellitto reacted first, sliding home the Knights 5th goal. The Saints came again, bringing Gardener and Hooper into play, as they needed to defend this all out Saints attack. Blackbourn and Hooper broke down another promising Saints attack, Powell sent Doel and Holland up-field; Holland crossed the ball where Holloway was waiting, and without hesitation Holloway scored the Knights 6th goal of the match. As the half was drawing to a close the Saints applied the pressure, forcing the play deep in the Knights half; a good passing combination soon gave the Saints a goal scoring opportunity, and they didn’t disappoint. A couple of Saints attackers bore down towards the Knights goal, Tadd, the Knights keeper, raced out but the Saints attacker neatly slipped the ball past him and into the net. The Saints were rallying hard and were soon attacking again but the half time whistle put pay to what looked like a promising attack.
The 2nd half saw the Knights attacking again, with shots by Holland, Holloway, Doel and Sellitto going wide or being well saved by the Saints keeper. As the Saints ventured deep into the Knights half, Rust rushed out of his goal to quickly collect the ball; he then launched a long ball forward to Doel, who sent Holland down the wing, Holland crossed the ball and the Saints keeper tried to collect but the ball bounced off his chest and into the path of Holloway – Holloway fired the ball into the back of the net, giving the Knights a 7-1 lead. From the Knights defence, Garland and Gardener combined to release Doel and Holloway up-field; a killer pass by Holloway gave Doel a goal-scoring opportunity, only to see his effort crash into the side netting. The Saints still kept coming forward, and with good play and excellent passing, a goal scoring chance opened up; the Saints attacker was racing towards the Knights goal as Rust came out – seeing this the attacker chipped the ball over his head and into the back of the net, giving the Saints a well deserved goal. As the match re-started, Hopper sent Holloway on route towards the Saints goal; using good skills Holloway rounded a defender and took aim towards goal, firing the ball high over the Saints keeper and into the back of the net 8-2 Knights. Within minutes of this Doel sent Hooper up-field; Hooper skipped past a defender before crossing the ball for Powell, who quickly turned and scored 9-2 Knights. With only a few minutes remaining the Saints fought their way forward again, and soon a lone attacker was bearing down towards the Knights goal. Tadd rushed out and dived for the ball, but unfortunately in doing so, brought the attacker down – penalty Saints. The penalty was well taken and Tadd was unable to stop the ball hitting the back of the net, but before the match could re-start, the ref blew the whistle for full-time, giving the Knights a 9-3 victory. The Manager now had to decide on man of the match, and Doel was chosen, due to his work rate and commitment from start to finish, causing problems for the Saints at every opportunity.
