SIXSHOOTERS Fairfield Villa booked their place in the Les James Cup semi-finals after putting Midland League Division Two rivals Knowle to the sword.

After going 1-0 down completely against the run of play, Villa responded with three goals in the space of four minutes, from which Knowle never recovered.

Ellis Blakemore revelled in his striker's role to net a hat-trick, strike partner Connor Collins converted another while Ryan Molesworth rifled home a brace of goals as Villa sealed a 6-2 victory.

Delighted Villa spokesman Paul Oakes said: "It was one of those games where everything clicked into place.

"We had Knowle pegged back in their own half for the first eight or nine minutes, then a misplaced pass let them in for the opening goal.

"The players responded with three goals in almost as many minutes which completely destroyed Knowle and it could have been more.

"Dan Wilkes struck a volley which just hit Knowle's goalkeeper and rebounded clear, he didn't know anything about it, while Connor Collins had another goal chalked out for offside, when clearly it wasn't."

Villa now entertain either Coton Green or Boldmere Sports and Social in the semi-final which is scheduled for February 10.

In the meantime, Villa return to Midland League action this Saturday at home to Coton Green where they will be looking for much needed points to pull clear of the drop zone.

And Oakes added: "We had both Pete Jenzey and Danny ' DJ' Pitt on the bench against Knowle which shows we are getting players back after a difficult time with injuries and I'm confident we can pull clear of danger".