Moors Thrashed By Fylde

Solihull Moors were thrashed 4-0 by AFC Fylde on Saturday afternoon.

Having beaten Eastleigh on Tuesday night thanks to goals from Jermaine Hylton and Oladapo Afolayan, the Automated Technology Group Stadium was had a good feeling about it with Fylde similarly struggling to find their feet so far this season.

However, things took a turn for the worst on the stroke of half-time when Jonny Smith and Danny Rowe fired The Coasters into a two-goal lead. The score line was doubled in the second half thanks to goals from Sam Finlay and Jack Muldoon.

Money made one change to the side that won on Tuesday night with Courtney Richards’ unavailability allowing Ashley Sammons a first start of the season. Romario Martin and Kieran Higgs were given spots on the bench.

Danny Rowe did his best to make early Fylde pressure count, using the blustering wind to his advantage with a 40-yard free-kick that Nick Townsend was equal to. At the other end, Sammons found Oladapo Afolayan who in turn played the ball to Jermaine Hylton but the effort was blocked.

Despite a lively opening, this game was not big on chances, Kristian Green having the first major chance at goal on 17 minutes. His initial header deflected back into his path yet with the goal gaping he couldn’t connect cleanly with the outside of his right foot.

Akwasi Asante had a quiet afternoon and couldn’t make the most of Darren Carter’s through ball. Jack Muldoon fired over the bar for the visitors, as did Luke Burke moments later. Muldoon couldn’t quite connect to Sam Finlay’s dangerous cross before Townsend was finally called into action by James Bowen, the left-back’s clearance wayward to say the least.

The mistake led to the first goal. The resulting corner was won on the edge by Fylde and Moors couldn’t clear convincingly. The ball fell to Jonny Smith who side-footed the ball on target and subsequently into the net.

As if conceding once on the stroke of half-time wasn’t bad enough, Danny Rowe was given the chance to strike another free-kick from distance. As the ball swerved into a relatively harmless position for Townsend to deal with, Murombedzi deflected the ball in the opposite direction at pace.

The second half saw Moors still slightly rattled with Paul Green lucky to escape with no booking for two-footed challenge. Jonny Smith then cut inside from the right but fired over.

Despite struggling to get into the game, The Moors only needed a moment and it so nearly arrived after Jay Lynch handled outside of his area. Ashley Sammons’ free-kick was sumptuous with Lynch doing very well to push the ball onto the underside of the bar allowing Hylton a tap-in. The flag was rightly raised and Moors had not halved the deficit.

Sammons was withdrawn shortly after for Joel Kettle, allowing Murombedzi and Kristian Green to push on. That didn’t work so Kieran Higgs entered the field in place of Paul Green. Two minutes later and it was 3-0.

James Bowen tried a turn on the halfway line but had the ball nicked off him by Serhat Tasdemir. The winger broke, Bond opened the space for Rowe who found Finlay breaking into the area to all but finish the game.

The game opened up for a few minutes, Nick Townsend out smartly to deny Andy Bond while Asante latched onto a loose ball only to fire wide of the target.

Romario Martin was given a late opportunity to impress but five minutes after his arrival, Fylde made it four. Having failed to nick the ball off Fylde forwards on the left, Moors were turned with ease and a low cross found the unmarked Jack Muldoon to fire home from close range.

As if to sum the day up, Liam Daly won a header at the back post that was flicked on by Kristian Green only to see Fylde clear off the line. Moments later, Hylton produced some beautiful footwork before finding Martin whose low strike was well saved at the near post.

Richard Money’s post-match press conference was quite brilliant in how he completely disarmed the bad feeling about the place. His claim about AFC Fylde being the best side in the division may have been somewhat false but he was clearly in no mood to talk down on his players.

At this point in the campaign we are bottom of the division and seem incapable of winning two matches in succession. Forget looking ahead, we have to be looking at each game individually and judging the side on each game. We need results now if we are to have any chance of survival.

With Money resigning, hopefully Gary Whild can give us something to shout about with Wycombe on the horizon.