HAYDEN Purves scored the only goal as Knowle stunned Solihull Moors in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs in a pre-season friendly.
Purves struck five minutes before half time at Hampton Road as the Step Five side beat a Moors team who play four levels above them in the non-league pyramid.
Moors named a strong side for the fixture as recent arrivals Nathaniel Ford, Jevon Mills and Rio Shipston all started from the off.
Knowle frustrated Moors throughout and took the lead on 40 minutes when Purves placed a first-time shot into the right corner of the goal from the edge of the penalty area.
Solihull made 10 changes at the interval after experienced defender Alex Whitmore came on as a first-half substitute in place of new signing Mills.
However, Knowle held firm to claim a famous pre-season win as the club took on professional opposition for the first time.
Knowle captain, George Seeley said: “It’s getting a bit mental at the moment.
“In big games, against big teams, we always seem to produce big performances and that’s exactly what it was.
“Fair play to them for coming here. You can see the amount of fans they brought.
“It makes a massive difference to our club, getting the numbers through the gates and supporting another local club.”
Knowle beat Boldmere St Michaels 4-0 in the club’s opening pre-season friendly prior to victory against Moors.
Solihull were playing their first pre-season game following a squad overhaul in the summer.
And Moors boss Chris Millington admits he wants his side to face adversity in pre-season ahead of the start of the 2026/27 National League campaign.
Millington said: “It was relatively entertaining under challenging circumstances.
“Well done to Knowle. They played well and approached the game in a really positive way.
“It gave us the challenge that we wanted out of it. The surface presented a few more issues due to the weather.
“But that’s what we wanted, we want the lads to face adversity and a challenge to discover the character [of the team].
“It was a good, useful first run out for us.”
