Coleshill Town 1 v 3 Knowle

[Alan Beckett]

Saturday 30th October 1976
Midland Combination Division One
Coleshill Town 1 v 3 Knowle
Scorers:
Coleshill: ? Jarvis.
Knowle: Waller, OG, Currie.


Team: ? Cookey GK, Barrie Canning (? Jarvis), Jim Hall, Carl McDonald, Ray Nabbs, Roy Phelps, John Allcock, Paul Garnell, Eddie Hanlon, Mark Gardner, ? Brayson.


COLESHILL CHRONICLE WROTE
Coleshill Lose Dour Struggle
Midland Combination returned to Pack Meadow on Saturday with Coleshill losing to Knowle after a dour struggle. The game started with a good Town attack through Canning and Hall and the final shot by McDonald. The resulting goal kick was siezed on by Hall in midfield who sent Nabbs away on a run down the inside left position that was easily cleared. It was the away teams turn to attack now and a free kick by Currie was picked out of the air by new Coleshill keeper Cookey. Two minutes later another free kick to Knowle taken by Mathews was headed over the bar by Currie. Coleshill attacked again, this time throgh Hall and Phelps only for a Nabbs header to be cleared for a corner. After this Knowle bounced back with a speculative shot over the bar from 30 yards by Saunders. One minute later Waller scored for the visitors after some neat play between Jackson and Saunders. A loose ball was then picked up by Allcock for the Town who ran on to smash a good first time shot past the post. Good play between Phelps and Garnell at the back of the Town defence saved a very dangerous four-to-two situation and paved the way to a Coleshill attack with Canning, Nabbs and McDonald linking but a lack of penatration in front of goal led to nothing. With no urgency being shown by either team a long through ball by Garnell sent Nabbs down the middle but his only consolation was a charge at the keeper who collected easily. On the half hour a free kick from Hanlon was knocked over the bar from 6 yards by Nabbs. A good jinking run by Carl McDonald came to an end when Bodfish brought him down in the box for a penalty. Roy Phelps took the kick which was parried away by Jones and unlike last week's miss the ball was cleared. The next goal attempt came when full back Hanlon was unlucky with a shot over the bar after picking up a loose ball on the edge of the box. The visitor's number 11 Jackson was brought down heavily by Phelps when chasing a long ball down the left. The resulting free kick was shot high over the bar by Hastie. On the stroke of half time a good cross from Allcock was picked out of the air by Jones and the whistle we had heard far too often during the first half blew to to take the teams off to give them all a rest. The second half started with a good attacking run by Mark Gardner who seemed to run out of help in the 18 yard box. Knowle's first attack of the half produced a scramble in the goalmouth out of which Cookey picked the ball. After 55 minutes Coleshill started putting their game together and a good buid up on the right involving Canning and Brayson gave Hall a shot from just outside the box. With the Town looking better by the minute a header from McDonald went just past the post after a good cross by Hanlon from the left. Town were now on a continual attack but fell into the trap of playing too complicated football. Right winger McDonald was now creating havoc with a brand of aggresive running he had not shown in previous games. One example of this created a chance for Nabbs who shot over the bar. After 81 minutes a good run and cross by Brayson was collected by the keeper after a lack of challenge from the home forwards in the goal area. Two minutes later Knowle introduced substitute Rhodes for Jackson and within 90 seconds a Rhodes shot on the break was deflected into the net off Gardner for the visitors second goal. After this Knowle applied a lot more pressure and with the new keeper Cookey doing nothing to instill their confidence, Coleshill lost all their composure and started to look very ragged. Keeper Cookey held the next shot on the line but seconds later he was too slow coming off his line and allowed Currie to score goal number three. Eight minutes from time Coleshill substituted Jarvis for Canning who straight away created a scoring chance for Allcock which Jones held at the second attempt. In the 89th minute a good run on the left by Allcock gave Jarvis a consolation goal for the Town.


P9 W2 D1 L6 F12 A19 Pts5 Pos14/18