PLUCKY Fairfield Villa put up a fight before going down 5-1 to Knowle in the Midlands Division Two.

The Recreation Ground side could only muster 11 players because of a large number of player absent.

Dan Wilkes and Ellis Blakemore were carrying injuries but despite this they went into half-time leading 1-0 thanks to a James Ward strike.Villa also hit the woodwork on several occasions.

But as the team tired, Knowle scored early in the second half to level and soon took the lead.

As Fairfield chased the game, they were caught out by late goals.

Joint manager Paul Oakes said: “It’s the first time ever as a manager that I have only managed to have 11 players.

“But the lads we had did a great job and we could have taken an even bigger lead into the second half. Unfortunately, they ran out of steam and Knowle hit back.

“You can’t blame players who have holiday booked or work or injuries, but I was disappointed with one or two who didn’t have very good excuses.

“It’s just a fact of modern football at our level and I am not the only manager to have this problem.”

James Finn and Danny Bostock will be available after being on holiday, while Rory McFarlane and Lewis Cosgrave are injury doubts.

Villa go to Paget Rangers on Saturday (3pm ko).