JACK Mullen scored twice as a much-changed Knowle battled to a hard-fought 3-1 victory against Lane Head.
Mullen’s late double means Knowle remain top of the Midland Football League Division Two table after Odane Barnes equalised in the first half at the Draintech Community Ground.
Robins joint manager Matthew Seeley admitted he thought the ball would never go in at one point in the second half as Knowle desperately searched for a winner.
Seeley said: “A blood pressure monitor was needed after about 70 minutes, I just could not see that ball going in the net.
“We hit every part of the goal bar the middle, post, bar, side netting, the keeper made two or three world-class saves.
“We scrambled one over the line to go ahead, it’s a big result with lots and lots missing, we managed to get the job done in the end.
“It was a tricky week for us with people on holiday, injuries and big players missing, it’s a big result for us.”
Playing in their first game for over a month due to the bad weather, Knowle looked rusty on their return to the pitch with four debutants and a number of first team regulars injured or unavailable.
And despite Knowle dominating the early exchanges, Lane Head took a shock lead on 20 minutes as visiting captain Kane Taylor won back possession before finding the net from 20-yards out.
However, the Robins equalised just one minute later as Barnes headed home from a corner to immediately restore parity before Jay Rendell hit the crossbar.
The Robins eventually completed the turnaround on 77 minutes when Mullen forced the ball home before the same player sealed the points five minutes from time.
Knowle are next in action away at Central Ajax on Saturday, March 23 with kick-off at 3pm at Ajax Park.
