The Bury boss, who described the Shakers' display against Port Vale as possibly the best for three years, was barracked by one man in the main stand halfway through the second half, with his team 3-0 up.
He turned around and shouted to the man to: "Shut up!" But he later apologised for reacting, even though several fans applauded his angry retort.
"It's just disappointing that for some people it's not good enough," said Knill (pictured). "We were 3-0 up and some bloke had to shout something that was pretty negative.
"I didn't react in the right way, but what do you do? He was shouting for me to get my midfield players off my back four. Sometimes you can't help reacting."
On-loan Wolves ace Elliott Bennet - one of the stars of Bury's excellent first-half display - felt that the professional approach taken by the team in the second half was a lesson which had been harshly learned at Aldershot in October, when Bury let a 3-0 lead slip in the final 20 minutes.
"We killed the game in the first half with three goals, and then just kept the ball in the second half," he said. "It was a brilliant result for us.
"At 3-0 up it was about closing the game out. After what happened at Aldershot, we didn't want it to happen again - that is always going to be in the backs of our minds.
"They had a ten-minute spell where they peppered us, but in the end it was an easy win."
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