Racing Club Warwick: Knight wants focus in cup final countdowns

Racers beat Knowle 3-2 in the semi-final second leg of the Les James Challenge Cup which saw them secure a comfortable 6-2 win on aggregate.

They will play Feckenham at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium on Tuesday May 8 having already visited the Ricoh Arena for a Charity Cup Final clash with Christ the King on Friday April 27.

“We’ve got another final booked in now and it’s fantastic to be looking forward to that,” said Knight.

“It’s a great achievement to reach three cup finals in my first season in charge and to be going for some silverware.

“It is credit to everyone involved. We’ve got three games in six days at the moment but everyone is just getting on with it.

“The pressure is off us now we’re in the finals and we just need to make sure the lads keep their focus and are ready.”

Knowle came to Racing determined to put up a fight, despite trailing 3-0 on aggregate from the first leg, and had made several changes to their squad from the previous tie.

Knight admitted the first half was tough for his side despite them going in 2-1 up thanks to good work from Danny Charlton and some smart finishing.

Charlton played Tyron Smith in for the first before feeding Reece Lynch who dragged the ball back, spun and shot to find the back of the net.

Lynch and Smith combined well in the second half before the latter was upended in the box.

Substitute Luke Fuller put the result beyond doubt by stepping up and slamming home the penalty - the referee pointing to the centre spot as soon as the ball left his boot (pictured above).

Knight said: “The first half hour was tough for us to be fair but after half time we totally dominated.

“It was nice to win 6-2 on aggregate and it was comfortable really but I’d have taken 1-0.”

The exertions of Saturday forced Knight to make several changes to his squad for their Midland Combination Premier Division match at Continental Star on Monday.

Defenders Anthony Hall and Aaron Nevin were both unavailable while first-choice centre half Michael Crawford suffered a neck injury in the previous match and the extent of the damage is currently unknown.

Knight called on the services of 19-year-old reserve team player Tom Poland while Craig Thomas, normally a midfielder, slotted in alongside him at centre-half.

Jamie Vadasz, 18, coming on at left back, and young midfielder Jake Montgomerry were also called into action but, despite Racers going down 3-1, Knight was proud of his team’s performance.

“The team we put out on paper looked as if it might get rolled over but that was not the case at all,” said Knight.

“If we had taken our chances in the second half when it was 2-1 then it could’ve been a different story but we threw men forward looking for the equaliser and they caught us on the break in the last minutes.

“We didn’t get the result but the performance was positive and it really opened my eyes about some of our younger players.”

Knight had far less to be positive about after Racers’ trip to Castle Vale on Wednesday night, which ended in a 6-0 defeat to the top six side.

Despite this result, Racers still have at least two games in hand on most of the teams around them in the Midlands Combination and can use these to climb the table.

They visit Bartley Green, who sit just one place and three points above them in 11th today (Saturday) before hosting 13th placed Pelsall Villa on Tuesday (kick off 7.45pm).