FOOTBALL: A SERIES of defensive errors cost Knowle away at third-placed Droitwich as they came out of a seven-goal thriller on the losing side.
The visitors twice came from behind but were undone by a late Luke Molloy strike in what was an entertaining Midland League Division Two fixture on Saturday.
Droitwich took the lead with just five minutes gone when Spencer Dixon only partly cleared and the ball fell to Nick Seabourne who guided the ball into an empty net from 35 yards out.
Dixon then made partial amends by making a fine stop to keep out Seabourne’s drive in the 16th minute, however he could do nothing to prevent Droitwich doubling their lead five minutes later.
The hosts made progress down the right and the cross was drilled home by Haydn Morris for 2-0.
It could have got worse for Knowle but when Seabourne was put through Callum Mallet made a partial block and the ball looped up on the bar and out for a corner.
As the half progressed Knowle got a foothold in the game. Sam Bethell forced a good save from the home keeper with a free kick from the edge of the area and in the 36th minutes Knowle pulled one back when Ben Ellicott converted a free kick from 25 yards.
Knowle were now taking the game to a rattled Droitwich defence who were struggling to contain Charlie Evans and Sam Bethell and it came as no surprised when they equalised just before half time.
Ben Cranage cut in off the right and his shot was blocked but the ball fell to Torryn Connolly who made no mistake from 12 yards.
The half-time break came at the wrong time for Knowle as it gave the home side time to regroup and the visitors could not get going at the start of the second half.
They could have gone behind in the 51st minute but for a good header off the line and follow up save by Dixon.
With the hosts in the ascendency and Knowle struggling to get their passing game back together, it came as no surprise when Droitwich regained the lead in the 68th minute. A break down the right led to a cross was bundled over the line by Seabourne.
Knowle threw on 17-year-old Dylan Parker and his pace started to cause problems for the home side.
With ten minutes to go Connolly cut in from the left and his shot took an awkward bounce which the home keeper failed to deal with and Knowle were level.
The visitors smelt victory and came close to getting a fourth as Parker got beyond the home defence and cut back to Connolly whose shot from ten yards was well saved.
That miss proved costly as within a minute Droitwich launched a long free kick into the Knowle area and it was headed back across goal for Luke Molloy to bundle home what proved to be the winning goal.
Knowle next travel to Earlswood for a local derby this Saturday.
