Goals from Ross Murdoch, James Glover and Matt Copland fired Knaphill to a 3-1 win at home to Fleet Town in the Combined Counties Premier Division South.

Despite an equaliser from Tane Caubo, the hosts' attacking power proved too much for Fleet in a well-fought contest.

Knaphill came out of the blocks with pace and purpose, with Sekou Toure causing all sorts of problems down the right wing. His runs left Fleet's Tommy Taylor struggling to keep up as Knaphill looked to get on the front foot early on.

Fleet had the first clear-cut opportunity. Kwesi Ntim found space at the edge of the box and unleashed a curling shot. It looked destined for the top corner, but the ball crashed off the crossbar and bounced clear.

Knaphill took the lead in the 22nd minute through a well-crafted goal.

Copland's surging run saw him feed a perfectly-timed through ball to Toure. Toure showed composure to round Fleet goalkeeper Finley Purcell, but his shot lacked power, allowing Taylor to recover and clear off the line. The ball fell kindly to Murdoch, who slotted home into the roof of the net.

Fleet equalised just before the break.

In the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Leo Decabo fired a powerful shot from the edge of the box, forcing Knaphill keeper Sam Gray into a fine save with his leg. The ball hit the crossbar but fell to the alert Caubo, who reacted first, heading the ball past Gray and into the net to make it 1-1 at half-time.

Knaphill started the second half quickly as they looked to regain the lead.

George Sellick found space and fired a shot goalwards in the 48th minute, but it whizzed just past the post.

Fleet's Dean Rule was sin-binned in the 60th minute, and Knaphill regained the lead on 65 minutes.

Glover won the ball just before the halfway line and surged forward. His forward pass found Murdoch, who held the ball up well before backheeling it into the path of Copland. Glover received the ball back from Copland and skipped past two Fleet defenders before picking out the bottom left-hand corner.

In the 86th minute, Knaphill sealed the win with their third goal.

Substitute Ben Mitchell raced clear of the Fleet defence and tried to take the ball around Purcell. Purcell parried the ball at Mitchell's feet, and Mitchell did well to get the ball back into the box. Copland was there to meet the ball first time, hooking his effort into the top left-hand corner on the volley, giving Purcell no chance.

Fleet surged forward in the 88th minute as they searched for a way back into the game.

Decabo managed to get on the end of a cross from the right, and his looped shot was curling in, but Gray managed to claw it away from the goal with one hand.

The ball pinged around the box, and Ntim attempted a bicycle kick from the six-yard box. However, Gray was equal to it, pushing the ball onto the bar before Knaphill cleared the danger.

In injury time, Mitchell again broke free of the Fleet defence. Mitchell tried to round Purcell, but the Fleet keeper managed to get down quickly and make the save, keeping the score at 3-1.

By James Carpenter