Wood Hit Moors For Four

The postponement, the lesson, the thrashing. Liam McDonald and his Solihull Moors squad could scarcely have endured a worst start to the season.

Following on from the stadium farce and the beating delivered from National League giants Leyton Orient, Boreham Wood represented a reasonable opportunity to turn things around.

No disrespect intended, but this is the kind of opposition the Moors thrived on playing last season. A part-time club whose primary ambition is to avoid a relegation scrap, one the smaller clubs still working incredibly hard off the field to maintain their position as a stable club at the top of non-league football.

It started well, Fiarce Kelleher opening the scoring before Moors conceded three goals in under 10 minutes, the fourth coming in the second half. It leaves Moors bottom of the table after two games, poor Connal Trueman picking the ball out of his net on seven occasions already.

Still without Kristian Green, Simeon Maye and Jermaine Hylton, McDonald swapped to a 3-5-2 system, Joel Kettle and Tom Tonks making first starts of the season in place of Jack Edwards and Kalern Thomas. It meant Luke Benbow and Oladapo Afolayan partnered one another in attack while George Carline moved central, Jordan Cullinane-Liburd and Shepherd Murombedzi operating as the wing-backs.

We were matched, to a point, by the hosts whose defensive crisis forced them into playing Tom Champion at centre-back once again in a 3-4-1-2 system, Bruno Andrade and Paul Benson leading their line.

The hosts were the better side throughout and almost immediately opened the scoring, Angelo Balanta’s back post header crashing off the underside of the bar. Jamie Turley couldn’t turn home before Dave Stephens’ header was cleared off the line by Tonks.

Moors did find a way back into the game, Benbow and Tonks seeing efforts blocked before Moors opened the scoring.

Tom Tonks’ long throw caused problems at the back post where Kelleher got the ball stuck under his feet. As Boreham Wood defenders looked around searching for the ball, swiping at thin air, Kelleher just about managed to poke the ball goalward, the effort taking a cruel deflection and nestling into the bottom corner.

It was the bit of luck we needed but a repeat of Tuesday night was to follow as we conceded almost instantly. Jamie Turley was the scorer, Kelleher doing well to deny Angelo Balanta on the line only for his clearance to rebound off the centre-back and squeeze over the line. It was harsh on Trueman who had made two fine stops prior.

Five minutes later and the Hertfordshire outfit were ahead. Balanta’s cross was poor but found Bruno Andrade who was able to turn and fire home from close range.

The third arrived on 43 minutes, Luke Garrard’s side keeping the ball alive from a set-piece situation. Tonks unfortunately headed backwards instead of out while stretching and Benson rolled back the years with an instinctive volley.

The second half didn’t prove much better, Boreham Wood scoring their fourth on 58 minutes. A cross to the back post landed to Ricky Shakes who produced a beautiful touch to set-up Balanta, whose finish was emphatic.

Andrade had a free-kick that was comfortably saved, Carter had a rare chance that was wide of the target before Trueman made the save of the match, a one-handed effort to deny Ricky Shakes’ strike. The final chance of note fell to Tristan Dunkley who couldn’t find the target.

A real disappointing showing and the kind of performance that raises several questions about whether McDonald knows his preferred system yet. With Green, Maye and Hylton still to return, the boss is simply trying to conjure up a winning formula from the players he has available.

Expect further changes for Tuesday as promotion favourites Barrow visit the ATG.


Starting XI: Trueman; Kettle, P.Green, Kelleher; Murombedzi, Tonks (Edwards), Carter, Carline (Cleary), Liburd; Benbow (Dunkley), Afolayan.