Knaphill exited the Cherry Red Records Premier Challenge Cup with a 3-1 defeat at home to North Greenford United.

The Knappers led through Thomas Harland-Goddard’s penalty before a late collapse saw the visitors score three times in the final ten minutes at Redding Way.

The match started evenly, with Knaphill showing good intent in possession. After 11 minutes, Ross Murdoch turned his marker smartly and was brought down on the edge of the area, but the resulting free kick came to nothing.

A minute later, Knaphill won another free kick in a similar position. Louis Collins stepped up and his strike was curling towards the top right-hand corner, only for North Greenford keeper Ryan Lehane to get a fingertip to it and turn it wide.

Knaphill won another free kick, which Collins whipped in. Michak Stanic Stewart rose highest to power a header goalwards, but Lehane produced a fine save to tip it over the bar.

As the half wore on, a few firm challenges saw referee Shelby Elson reach for his pocket. Corey Ben Hart was first booked for the visitors, followed soon afterwards by captain Dale Burnham and Stanic Stewart for Knaphill, as both sides battled for control of the game.

At half-time, Ben Mitchell replaced Murdoch to add fresh legs up front for Knaphill.

The Knappers took the lead on 58 minutes. Joe Throp threaded a superb pass through midfield to find Mitchell, who drove into the box before his legs were taken away by a recovering defender. Harland-Goddard stepped up from the spot and calmly stroked his penalty into the bottom corner to give Knaphill a deserved lead.

Harland-Goddard turned provider moments later, slipping a perfectly-weighted pass through for Collins, whose low effort was straight at Lehane and was parried away by the visiting keeper.

Knaphill continued to press with Rami Halloufi replacing Jack Phillips just after the hour before Throp was booked for a late tackle soon afterwards. Olly Woolgar then came on for Throp to inject more energy in midfield as the visitors started to push forward.

The equaliser, however, changed everything. A loose ball on the edge of the area saw Tom Wensley and Burnham both turned, and as it bounced kindly, Francesco Pass struck it cleanly on the half-volley into the top left-hand corner to make it 1-1.

The visitors’ second goal was a superb strike. Charlie Mitchell ran onto a loose ball and hit it first time from outside the box, curling it into the bottom right-hand corner and giving Knappers keeper Harvey Keogh no chance.

With Knaphill chasing a way back into the game, Ross Cheek replaced Harland-Goddard. Ben Mitchell stayed up front while Cheek dropped into midfield to try to control possession and create an opening.

The visitors’ third goal came after Knaphill failed to clear their lines. The loose ball fell to Harvey Killeen, who slipped a pass through to the unmarked Pass. He rounded Keogh and drove his shot home to seal the tie.

Tensions flared late on when a coming-together between Collins and Killeen sparked a brief brawl, with both players shown yellow cards. A late red card for Stanic Stewart added to Knaphill’s frustration, ending what had been a strong performance for more than an hour before North Greenford’s late surge turned the contest on its head.

By James Carpenter