The fourth meeting of these clubs this season with the possibility of a fifth to come in the play-offs. Jersey had only beaten Knaphill once in seven previous meetings and they were usually dour affairs. Only five goals had been scored between them in 300 minutes this season, the last of those being a 99th minute equaliser by Lorne Bickley at Springfield in late October.

Knaphill had long held second place in the division behind runaway leaders Farnham Town but their form had wobbled since the New Year. During that period they had won 2, drawn 3 and lost 1 of their league matches and been eliminated from both the Combined Counties Premier Cup and the Surrey Senior Cup. Nevertheless, they still had an impressive league record of 16-6-3 61-27.

Jersey had James Queree, suspended last week, unavailable this and he was replaced by Will Byers. Harry Curtis, also suspended last week, displaced Ben Le Rougetel in the back four. Jay Giles and Adam Trotter both made their first starts

since November after lengthy injury lay-offs. Joe Kilshaw and Miguel Carvalho made way for them and joined Le Rougetel on the bench.

On an overcast (13C) early afternoon Knaphill kicked off attacking the far (Southern)end. There was a north-easterly wind on which light rain arrived after 80 minutes play. Just as last week there was a penalty shout just after quarter of an hour. This time Jay Giles tackled Zac Hawker and Jersey supporters were relieved when the only sanction awarded was that of a caution for the attacker’s alleged simulation,which looked a harsh decision. If Hawker thought he was unfortunate then he was more than compensated for that near the end of the match.

Neither goalkeeper had much to do before the interval although just before the half hour Luke Campbell met a Luke Watson cross at the far post only to see his half volley fly narrowly over the angle of post and bar as Jersey grew into the game. After the hour Jose Sani hooked an excellent Knaphill chance well wide and shortly afterwards a low cross from Zac Hawker on the right just eluded him at the far post. In between these two incidents Lorne Bickley almost curled a shot on the turn into the top left corner. It was Bickley that eventually broke the deadlock. Trotter won the ball in midfield, fed Fraser Barlow on the right and his low cross was met by Bickley before the defence could recover.

Zac Horkan, close in, could not get enough power to unduly trouble Pierce Roche before Bickley sewed up the match with another 99th minute goal. Barlow broke out of defence, veered left as he crossed the half way line before playing a reverse pass to Bickley on his right. The striker stayed composed and found the bottom right corner as Jos Barker advanced. As Bickley wheeled away in celebration he was caught with a blow to his head by Zac Hawker. Hawker was fortunate that the match officials could not identify the miscreant as Bickley was helped off with a nasty cut above his eye looking like a heavyweight boxer that had just gone fifteen rounds.

Knaphill 0, Jersey Bulls 2 (Lorne Bickley 73 & 90+9)

Attendance – 220

Programme – £2.50

Knaphill – Jos Barker, Zac Horkan (c), Aaron Burchett (wore 12), Joe Dyett, Samir Bajja (wore 16), Tom Drinkwater, Zac Hawker, Jose Sani (wore 17), Sebastian Karczewski, Adam Aziz (wore 18), Jake Hawker
Substitutes – 5. James Ward (vc) (for Horkan 80), 10. Calvin Camara (not used), 20. Reece Williams-Bowers (for Karczewski 67), 22. James Smith (not used), 24. Will Jacob (for Sani 81)

Red & White Halves/White/Light Blue; GK All Light Blue

Jamie Daltry and John Cook (Joint Managers), Lee Trussler (Assistant Manager), Mark Gorman and Ricky Mallet (Coaches), Gary Dodd (Kit), Frank Hampton (Physio.)

Jersey Bulls – Pierce Roche, Will Byers, Jay Giles, Harry Curtis, Luke Campbell (c), Kamen Nafkha, Jonny Le Quesne, Luke Watson, Lorne Bickley, Adam Trotter, Fraser Barlow
Substitutes – 12. Ben Le Rougetel (for Carvalho 90+1), 17. Miguel Carvalho (for Giles 61), 18. Joe Kilshaw (for Nafkha 76), 19. Kevan Nelson (not used), no fifth substitute

Orange and Navy design/Navy/Navy; GK All Yellow

Gary Freeman (Manager), Kevan Nelson (Assistant), Richard Hebert (GK Coach)

Formations
Knaphill (5-4-1 R to L) 1; 2-6-4-12-16; 11-7-18-17; 9
Jersey Bulls (4-2-3-1 R to L) 1; 2-4-5-3; 6-8; 7-10-11; 9

Referee – Daniel Trout (Leatherhead)

Assistants – Richard Garland (Woking), on the dug outs side and Jason Giddings-Townsend (Blackwater) on the open side

Cautions – Jake Hawker (K) 17, Zac Hawker (K) and Jonny Le Quesne (JB) 28, Joe Kilshaw (JB) 83, Lorne Bickley (JB) 90+7

Corners – Knaphill (1) 4, Jersey Bulls (2) 6

Player of the Match – Jonny Le Quesne

Added Time – 1.40 & 11.40 (13.20)