Report: Iron 3-4 Solihull Moors

The Iron were beaten 4-3 at home by Solihull Moors on Saturday.

United came into the game having made five changes from Tuesday night’s fixture against Woking. Dan Gallimore, Kgosi Ntlhe, Jai Rowe, Alfie Beestin and Colin Daniel came into the side. The visitors arrived at Glanford Park looking to improve on their midweek draw against York City and the Iron were looking to bounce back and clinch all three points.

The Iron were the ones to get the game underway. A early long ball forward nearly caught the Solihull defence out but Louie Moulden was aware of the danger and he quickly came off his line to nullify any United threat.

United were presented with the first chance of the game. The ball bobbled around in the away side’s penalty area and eventually it found its way to Rowe. He was unmarked but his back was to goal so he improvised. A neat flick up into the air set him up for a bicycle kick from around ten-yards-out. He got a clean connection with the ball but his effort flew over the bar.

The visitors then worked an opening minutes later. A low cross into the Iron area caused a few problems for the home side. One of the Solihull players met the low cross and attempted to direct an effort goalward. Reagan Ogle followed his man well and managed to block the shot and clear the danger.

In the tenth minute of the game the Iron put themselves one goal up. Defender Rowe spotted a run from Joe Nuttall. A lovely ball over the top of the Solihull defence found its way to Nuttall and he saw Moulden rush off his line to try and meet the ball. The Iron striker had the composure to chip the ball over the Solihull keeper and the ball found its way into the back of the away side’s net. 

In the 13th minute, the Iron extended their advantage after Colin Daniel slotted his effort into the bottom right-hand corner of Moulden’s goal. United won the ball back on the halfway line and immediately they launched a counter-attack. The Solihull defence was outnumbered and Liam Feeney drove forward with the ball on the left hand-flank while Nuttall and Daniel made their runs into the penalty area.

Feeney whipped the ball into Nuttall’s feet and he wasn’t able to get a shot away but he had the awareness to spot Daniel and play him the ball. The Iron winger was able to take on the first time shot with his left foot. He didn’t get the cleanest of connections but the ball beat the keeper and found its way into the bottom corner. This gave the Iron some breathing space.

Solihull responded well and they had a good opportunity from a corner which was wasted by the visitors. A deep ball into the penalty area was nearly met at the back post. Fiacre Kelleher was the one at the back post unmarked but he didn’t expect the ball and he couldn’t get his head to it and the ball trickled behind for a Scunthorpe goal-kick.

The visitors grew into the game and they earnt a free-kick on the edge of the home side’s area after Ntlhe made a challenge. The ball was floated into the back post and Solihull captain Callum Howe directed the ball goalwards but his effort was straight at Marcus Dewhurst and he made a very comfortable save. 

The momentum had shifted in the game and it was now with the visitors. A long ball forward was not dealt with by Ntlhe and James Clarke brought the ball down and found a bit of space on the edge of the area. He took on the shot but he scuffed it and his effort rolled wide of the target.

Iron midfielder Jacob Butterfield created a very good chance from nothing in the 31st minute. Skillful footwork took him around three Solihull players and he managed to work the space for a shot. He took on the shot and it looked to be heading into the far corner but a defender managed to deflect the ball just wide of the target. Moulden looked very worried by the shot and to his relief it went wide. From the resultant corner, Beestin’s cross found the head of Nuttall who headed just over the bar.

The striker soon grabbed his brace in the 36th minute. Another Rowe ball found its way over the head of Kelleher. Nuttall beat the offside trap and was once again faced with a similar one-on-one situation from which he scored his first goal of the afternoon. Once again, Moulden rushed off his line and similarly Nuttall lifted the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to put the Iron 3-0 up within the first half.

The visitors grabbed a goal back on 41 minutes. Jamey Osbourne found himself with a lot of time and space at around 30-yards-out and he decided to take on the shot as he had no other options around him. A powerful shot flew into the top right-hand corner of Dewhurst’s net. This gave the visitors a chance to get back into the game.

Solihull grabbed a second just before half-time. A precise ball was whipped into the area from a corner and Kelleher met the cross and directed a strong header towards the target. His header was central but the power of it beat Dewhurst and struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced over the line to give the visitors their second goal of the game.

A chaotic first half was almost capped off by another goal. The away side broke into the Scunthorpe area and found some space. A powerful left-footed strike from a tight angle by Andrew Dallas hit the left-hand upright and went behind for a goal kick. The visitors were inches away from equalising and going into half time level.

Solihull were the ones to get the second half underway. A low cross into the area from Joe Sbarra looked dangerous but Andrew Boyce slide and blocked the cross well to prevent a potentially good opportunity for Solihull.

The Iron had a big chance to go two goals up once again. Beestin drove at the heart of the Solihull defence before laying off the ball to Feeney. Feeney then cut the ball back to Beestin who was in some space just inside the area. He had to adjust his body to take on the shot which took time and two defenders were able to close him down and deflect his shot wide of the target.

Rowe was the next United player to have the opportunity to score. An O’Malley corner found the head of Boyce who headed the ball onto the back post. Rowe was the player who darted to the back post and he slid to try and reach the ball and turn it into the goal but he couldn’t stretch his leg out in time and the opportunity faded away.

The visitors almost equalised a few minutes after this chance. A cross into the area was met by James Clarke at the back post. He aimed his header towards the ground but Dewhurst was down quickly to make the save and preserve the Iron’s slender lead.

Moors continued to push on and attempted to find the equaliser. Substitute Ryan Barnett was unchallenged on the edge of the area and he was given the opportunity to take on a shot from 25-yards-out. However, the shot was right down Dewhurst’s throat and the United keeper made the save.

During the second half, the Iron were pegged back in their own half and spent most of the time defending. Dewhurst was called into action a few times. Dallas was denied a certain goal by a brilliant double save from the United keeper. He spread himself to deny the first shot and then reacted quickly to kick the ball clear. The linesman’s flag went up after this event but Dewhurst didn’t know it was offside at the time.

A free-kick from Osbourne almost found the back of the net minutes later. Moors earnt a freekick from around 25-yards-out and a little chip over the wall narrowly crept over the crossbar. 

The away side managed to level things up in the 82nd minute after a neat exchange on the edge of the area which set Dallas free in the iron penalty area. He struck his shot low and hard into the bottom left-hand corner and the net bulged. 

In the 85th minute the comeback was complete after a goal from substitute Alex Reid. He was played in by an over-the-top ball down the left-hand flank. The ball set up nicely for a half volley and Reid took it on with his left foot; The ball rifled into the top left corner of the Iron goal. It was an unstoppable strike from 30-yards-out.

IRON: Dewhurst, Ogle, Boyce, Feeney, Beestin (72’ Whitehouse), Nuttall, Rowe, Butterfield (85’ Carver), Daniel, Ntlhe (46’ O’Malley), Gallimore

IRON SUBS NOT USED: Taft, Wallace

SOLIHULL: Moulden, Clarke, Coker, Howe, Sbarra, Dallas, Osborne, Kelly (68’ Reid), Kelleher (46’ McNally), Whelan, Parsons (46’ Barnett)

SOLIHULL SUBS NOT USED: Maycock, Vaughan

ATTENDANCE: 2,693.