Damage in the Box!: SOLIHULL MOORS (Damson Park)

Today it was a visit to the West Midlands, as my quest to complete a visit to all the grounds in the Conference North continued with a trip to Damson Park, the home of Solihull Moors. The fact that it was a local derby against Tamworth only whetted the appetite further. It was also a game in which the points were vital to both sides but for differing reasons. At the start of play Solihull sat only four points above the relegation zone, whilst Tamworth sat one point off the top of the table.

Just to give you a bit a background, Sollihull Moors FC was formed by the merger of two teams. Moor Green were left homeless in 2005 when an arson attack on their Moorlands ground destroyed their main stand and clubhouse. As a consequence they became tenants at Damson Park, the home of Solihull Borough. In 2007 it was decided to pool resources and merge as one club. Whether this has been successful, or was indeed the correct thing to do, is open to conjecture.

Onto the game and it turned out to be pretty uninspiring stuff. It was a game of lots of endeavour but very little quality in the final third. Solihull had plenty of the early possession but failed to really trouble the Tamworth 'keeper. It was somewhat against the run of play that Tamworth scored in the 28th minute through a shot from just inside the area by Matt Birley.

From this moment on Tamworth looked very comfortable and easily dealt with everything Solihull could throw at them. That was until the last minute when they needlessly conceded a free kick on the edge of the box and Jake Sedgemore curled the ball into the top corner to grab a share of the spoils.

On the balance of play I suppose it was a fair result.

Can I also point out that Solihull have a cracking social club...hic :)