Birmingham Blues 3 – Solihull Moors 0
Another quality match report from the B ‘ham Blues Press Office. Many thanks to Bart.
There was much to admire in the performance of both sides in this game.
Solihull Moors belied their lowly league position with a display that was characterised by a well organised team effort.
Birmingham Blues had to draw on their well-established game plan that relies on their ability to retain possession, each player being available to receive the next pass and having the patience to make meaningful progress towards their opponent’s goal.
Solihull began brightly, and a clever passing sequence was finished with a strong shot that needed to be dealt with by Birmingham’s goalkeeper. However, as so often happens in their games this season, Birmingham soon took control and Solihull found themselves being pushed further and further back. There was some inevitability about the opening goal. Mark Evans, on his return to the side after a brief period of absence, provided a fine pass to Clive Macey who finished clinically to give Birmingham a deserved lead. Two further goals were to be added by Clive Macey and Mark Evans.
Tribute must be paid to both Mark and Clive for their battling performances. Clive was a major doubt to play in this game and his knee injury meant he was only able to perform at half throttle. This makes his brace of goals even more impressive.
Birmingham were also boosted by the return of defensive linchpin Martin Barber who made a key contribution by brilliantly blocking a late Solihull strike on goal.
Solihull carried a goal threat throughout this game, and they may well feel that there was more than a suspicion of ‘overhead height’ for one of Birmingham’s goals.
Birmingham’s third strike finally put the game beyond Solihull’s reach and put the outcome of the contest beyond doubt.
Paul Feeney (player manager) was pleased with his squad’s endeavours (including two injured players supporting from the touch line). Everyone made a telling contribution to a valuable victory by sticking to the game plan throughout the match.
The Blues remain unbeaten but there is now a degree of concertinaing at the top of the table that sees the leading group being well within reach of each other.
There is little room for error with the competition shaping up for what should be an intriguing couple of months of exciting walking football.
