City 1 Solihull Moors 2
Dec 23, 2023 20:22:06 GMT
Post by Rijs on Dec 23, 2023 20:22:06 GMT
A disappointing defeat which leaves us perilously placed going into Christmas. Of course, it's gutting to lose to a late goal when we thought we might have earned a draw, but I think the initiative had been with the Moors once they equalised, and City's failure to clear a ball pinging around their box resulted in a sub scoring with what may have been his first touch, in the 87th minute.
It could have been different if the Hoops had pressed home their advantage after a wonderful 57th-minute opener from Zac, which was probably our first shot at goal in the match. But that seemed to wake up the visitors. The first half had been uneventful, with each side cancelling out the other, but the play opened out after the break and City had their best spell of pressing.
It wasn't that we didn't play fairly well on the whole, but you are punished for slips in this league and you have to go for it if you are to trouble defences at the other end. As at Boreham Wood, we had quite a lot of possession in spells, but with no end product other than one memorable strike. We didn't make their keeper work and we didn't get as many men in our opponents' box as they did in ours. One moment in the first half summed up our game. Ollie Sanderson pressed and pinched the ball off a defender and made for the penalty area, with Josh Parker just ahead making a diagonal run to stay onside. Ollie could have continued and had a shot; he might have scored or got a good rebound off the keeper. Instead, he chose to attempt to thread the ball through to Parker, who was less central, and the pass was cut out. It was that sort of afternoon - some wrong decisions, some odd refereeing at times, an unfortunate slip before their equaliser (just seven minutes after our goal), and a lack of attacking confidence and men in the box. Solihull were competent but not outstanding; they still deserved to win, just about.
It could have been different if the Hoops had pressed home their advantage after a wonderful 57th-minute opener from Zac, which was probably our first shot at goal in the match. But that seemed to wake up the visitors. The first half had been uneventful, with each side cancelling out the other, but the play opened out after the break and City had their best spell of pressing.
It wasn't that we didn't play fairly well on the whole, but you are punished for slips in this league and you have to go for it if you are to trouble defences at the other end. As at Boreham Wood, we had quite a lot of possession in spells, but with no end product other than one memorable strike. We didn't make their keeper work and we didn't get as many men in our opponents' box as they did in ours. One moment in the first half summed up our game. Ollie Sanderson pressed and pinched the ball off a defender and made for the penalty area, with Josh Parker just ahead making a diagonal run to stay onside. Ollie could have continued and had a shot; he might have scored or got a good rebound off the keeper. Instead, he chose to attempt to thread the ball through to Parker, who was less central, and the pass was cut out. It was that sort of afternoon - some wrong decisions, some odd refereeing at times, an unfortunate slip before their equaliser (just seven minutes after our goal), and a lack of attacking confidence and men in the box. Solihull were competent but not outstanding; they still deserved to win, just about.