648 people packed into the ATG stadium on a wet and miserable afternoon in Solihull. The weather, however, seemed to have no bearing on Moors’ performance as they played Bromley off the park to claim all 3 points in a one-sided affair.
Solihull wasted no time in showing their intent, attacking from the off and winning two corners in the process, the second of which found its way to the head of Alex Gudger who nodded home from close range before Bromley had even set foot in Moors’ half.
Continuing their impeccable start to the game the Moors pressed high and seemed the more confident of the two sides in possession, one player in particular who was already making a name for himself amongst the Bromley faithful was Jermaine Hylton, who had gotten the better of Ravens’ full-back Jordan Higgs twice in the opening four minutes, the latter of those attempts narrowly missing the target.
One negative of such high pressing became apparent when Darren Carter was booked on six minutes for a robust challenge on Frankie Sutherland, the locally born midfielder seemed to have not been phased by the referee’s warning, going on to finesse a shot into the top corner of David Gregory’s goal from long range just four minutes later. 2-0 to the Moors.
After a brilliant start, the Moors continued to play a high-pressure game. Not deterred by Bromley seeing slightly more of the possession and chances, the best being a cross, after a failed clearance by Liam Daly, which no Bromley man could get to.
Though last season’s FA Trophy finalists were seeing more possession, Moors were still undoubtedly the dominant force with most of their chances coming from Jermaine Hylton who was pulling all of the strings, this constant thorn in the side of Bromley’s defines paid off when the former Swindon Town striker scored from close range to extend Solihull’s advantage to three goals. Bromley would have to pull off quite the comeback now to have any chance at all.
An excellent opening twenty minutes had seemed to have shocked Neil Smith’s side who continued to succumb to a constant onslaught of Moors’ shots, with the in-form Danny Wright hitting the woodwork twice in two minutes.
Smith’s choice of tactical response was questionable to say the least, taking off Lebanese international striker Omar Bugiel with only 29 minutes gone, with the striker visibly angered by his manager’s decision.
The manager’s choice may have been unconventional but did lead to a stint of Bromley looking much much competent and calm on the ball and managing to attack Ryan Boot’s goal consistently for the first time in the game. The Lillywhites’ best chance being a scruffy encounter in the box ending with the ball hitting the outside of the post.
A lapse in concentration in the dying moments of the first half led to Danny Wright scoring the fourth goal of the half for Tim Flowers’ side Bromley were sinking without a trace, a comeback now seemingly impossible.
After some undoubtedly choice words in the Bromley changing room at half-time, Jamey Osborne kicked off the second half for Solihull who immediately started where they’d left off, attacking immediately.
Moors still seemed on top during the opening exchanges of the half, however, the dominance of possession that Flowers’ men had shown in the first half had dwindled to a fair share of the ball for both sides.
A 4-0 lead had undoubtedly made the Moors’ more complacent defensively. The tactics playing out fro the back which had worked well in the second half was not so effective after the hour mark with defensive errors common and a certain level of fatigue setting in.
One positive Bromley can certainly take from the game is how effectively they drew fouls, winning free kicks in a variety of ranges but failing to capitalise from the set pieces, most of which led to a counter attack for the Moors.
A substitution for Moors in the 66th minute saw Maxwell breathe new life into a fatigued side who again started to press higher up the pitch, leading to Jamey Osborne finding himself in space and tucking home for the first goal of the second half, 5-0 Solihull.
The game was end to end following Osborne’s goal until the Moors had a flurry of chances in the dying embers, with Jamey Osborne seeing his shot cleared off of the line.
A noteworthy addition to the game was a controversial second yellow card for Kwame Thomas, seemingly for simulation after going down under a challenge in the box.
Despite the last minute sending off it was, all in all, a very good day to be a Solihull Moors fan as 5-0 is a new record victory for the Moors at National League level.
Automated Technology Group Stadium
National League
22/09/2018 4:00 pm
Attendance: 648
Referee: Declan Bourne
| Solihull Moors | Bromley | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gudger (2'), Carter (10'), Wright (19', 45'), Osborne (72') | |||||||
| 1. Ryan Boot | 1. David Gregory | ||||||
| 2. Tyrone Williams | (Carline 74') | 4. Frankie Sutherland | |||||
| 3. Jamie Reckord | 5. Roger Johnson | ||||||
| 5. Liam Daly (C) | 6. Jack Holland | ||||||
| 6. Alex Gudger | 8. Frankie Raymond | (Luque 59') | |||||
| 7. Jamey Osborne | 9. Omar Bugiel | (Goddard 28') | |||||
| 8. Darren Carter | (Maxwell 65') | 14. Jordan Higgs | (Johnson 50') | ||||
| 10. Jermaine Hylton | (Yussuf 56') | 16. Jake Goodman | |||||
| 14. Kwame Thomas | 18. George Porter | ||||||
| 19. Danny Wright | 19. Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe | ||||||
| 22. Corey O'Keeffe | 23. Sam Wood | ||||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| 9. Adi Yussuf | 3. Daniel Johnson | ||||||
| 11. Dan Sweeney | 7. Bobby-Joe Taylor | ||||||
| 12. George Carline | 17. Reece Myles Meekums | ||||||
| 17. Luke Maxwell | 21. Joan Luque | ||||||
| 18. Jordan Murphy | 22. John Goddard | ||||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 14 | Goal attempts | 9 |
| 5 | On Target | 2 |
| 4 | Corners | 2 |
| 14 | Fouls | 9 |
| 3 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 1 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 59 | % | 41 |