CALLUM Burston-Keeley scored a hat-trick as league leaders Knowle beat local rivals Earlswood Town 3-2 despite conceding two penalties.
Burston-Keeley’s treble earned the Robins the derby day spoils while Elliot Edwards scored twice from the spot for the Earls at The Pavilions.
The result means Knowle sit 12 points clear at the top of the Midland Football League Division Two table with Earlswood down in 13th place.
The Earls made the perfect start when a coming together in the box saw the referee point to the spot and Edwards stepped up to score the resulting penalty with just seven minutes on the clock.
Knowle won a penalty of their own on 22 minutes as Burston-Keeley fired home to draw the visitors level.
And Burston-Keeley completed the turnaround shortly before half time with a finish into the bottom left corner.
The Robins searched for a killer third goal as Earls goalkeeper Alfie Pyott acrobatically denied both Odane Barnes and Burston-Keeley.
However, Burston-Keeley eventually poked a shot into the bottom corner to complete his hat-trick and put the visitors in command.
The Earls won a second penalty at the death as Edwards again converted from the spot but it proved too little too late as the Robins held on to secure another victory in their pursuit of the league title.
Knowle are next in action against Coventrians on Saturday, March 1 with kick-off at 3pm at Bennetts Road.
Earlswood travel to Lane Head on Saturday, March 1 with kick-off at 3pm at Somerfield Road.
