Jersey visited old rivals Knaphill who had had a major change of management and players since last season. They were lying 6th with a 12-8-11 45-48 record but were unlikely to reach the play-offs as despite their position they were 11 points behind Fleet Town in 5th place despite having played six games more. They had only gained 5 points from 6 games since the new year, scoring only three goals in the process. Jersey had won the reverse match at Springfield in early November 6-0.

Jersey made two changes to the side that had played at Camberley Town with Jay Giles and Miguel Carvalho rotating with Fraser Barlow and Jonny Le Quesne. They were both on the bench with the Lester brothers, Kieran and Adam. Adam Trotter and Karl Hinds on the bench at Camberley did not travel. It was Luke Watson’s 100thappearance and the debut this season of the third-choice kit.

The early stages were a gritty midfield battle on another damp and bobbly pitch. Rai Dos Santos picked up a knee injury which he could not run off and was replaced by Kieran Lester before the half hour. He was to have an eventful afternoon and soon had a good opportunity that he rolled just wide of the right post. However, another chance came from a Carvalho flick on that Knaphill skipper Dale Burnham let go only to find that Lester was running on to it and he calmly found the bottom right corner from fifteen yards as ‘keeper Sam Gray advanced. In stoppage time a Toby Ritzema shot on the turn looked dangerous but was deflected over the bar.

Jersey doubled their lead early in the second half. A long punt forward from ‘keeper Euan Van der Vliet found Jay Giles on the left wing and his low cross eluded Lester at the near post but was side footed home from eight yards by Joe Kilshaw. Four minutes later a bout of head tennis ended with Lester bringing down Knaphill substitute Rami Halloufi with a high foot right on the edge of the area. Sid Cannon stepped up and curled the free kick around the wall and into the top right corner.

This re-energised the hosts and for the next quarter of an hour Knaphill piled on the pressure seeking an equaliser. Jersey survived and a double substitution by Knaphill saw Burnham taken off and the armband taken on by Jack Carrod. Within a couple of minutes Carrod brought down Ritzema in the box and Watson celebrated his “centenary” by dispatching the penalty hard and low to the left which was sufficient to thwart Gray who guessed correctly and got his right hand to the ball.

Lester caught Halloufi with another high foot in the last ten minutes. He received a rather harsh red card but as he had escaped any censure for an earlier late tackle on Michal Stanic-Stewart in first half stoppage time that the referee probably did not seehis afternoon therefore evened itself out.

The ten men survived and were the closest to scoring again when a low cross shot from the right by Le Quesne brought a good save out of Gray whose strong right hand pushed it around the post.

Knaphill – (squad numbers) 1. Sam Gray, 3. James Glover, 5. Michak Stanic-Stewart, 6. Dale Burnham (c), 12. Sid Cannon, 14. Yahaya Kamara, 16. Jack Carrod(vc), 18. Aidan King, 19. Ben Mitchell, 21. Kingsley Anokye, 25. George Sellick
Substitutes – 7. Rami Halloufi (for King 43), 8. Darryl Cooper-Smith (not used), 22. Jack Baisden (for Burnham 74), 23. Andrew Cooke (for Kamara 74), 24. Zak Jakubowski (for Mitchell 66)

Red/Red/Royal Blue; GK All Yellow

Mike Woolgar and Paul Johnson (Joint Managers), Alex Lumley (Assistant), Becca Cross (Medical)

Jersey Bulls – Euan Van der Vliet, Harry Curtis, Jay Giles, James Queree (c), Luke Campbell, Luke Watson, Toby Ritzema, Joe Kilshaw, Rai Dos Santos, Paul McKay, Miguel Carvalho
Substitutes – 12. Jonny Le Quesne (for McKay 66), 14. Fraser Barlow (for Carvalho 74), 17. Adam Lester (not used), 19. Kieran Lester (for Dos Santos 27), only four substitutes

Navy Blue/Navy Blue/White; GK All Green

Elliot Powell (Manager), Adam Lester (Medical)

Formations (R to L)
Knaphill (4-4-2) 1; 3-6-18-5; 16-14-12-25; 19-21
Jersey Bulls (4-1-4-1) 1; 2-4-5-3; 6; 11-10-8-7; 9

Match Officials – Ryan Hetherington (Kingston), Grayham Henry (Camberley) on the dug outs side and Joshua Evans (Aldershot) on the lower side

Cautions – Joe Kilshaw (JB) 26, Michal Stanic-Stewart (K) 45, Luke Campbell (JB) 50, Paul Johnson (K mgr) 55, Yahaya Kamara (K) 71, Kieran Lester (JB) s/off 82, Rami Halloufi (K) 86

Corners – Knaphill (0) 0; Jersey Bulls (3) 4

Assists – Miguel Carvalho, Jay Giles, Toby Ritzema

Player of the Match – Toby Ritzema

Added Time – 6.40 & 3.40 (10.20)