A GOAL 17 minutes from time proved enough for Woking on Tuesday night as Solihull Moors slipped to a narrow one goal defeat.
Passing was made difficult throughout the game as heavy deposits of sand were laid to soak up large areas of standing water, which forced the initial tie between the two sides to be postponed just ten days earlier.
Woking quickly took the lead inside four minutes as a corner couldn’t be cleared by the Moors defence, leaving the ball to fall to Thomas who made no mistake in putting the home side ahead.
Liam McDonald’s side quickly responded though and, despite the tricky playing surface, soon found themselves putting plenty of attempts on goal in the direction of the Woking goal.
George Carline went close as he headed an Omari Sterling-James cross – that was before a powerful shot from Shep Murombedzi just missed the target.
Woking worked well on the break, though it was Solihull who had the majority of first half chances.
A promising move between Simeon Maye and Joel Kettle fed Liam Daly who hit well over the bar but again Woking were unlucky when a free ball from the left found Ugwu in space but the striker failed to hit the mark.
It took 59 minutes for Moors to open their account as Regan Charles-Cook was in the right place at the right time to slot home the equalising goal as Poke parried Sterling-James’ initial shot.
Woking boss Garry Hill made an inspired double substitution on the hour mark though which turned the game around.
Using the flanks to maximum effect and avoiding the soft, sandy, surface inbetween, Woking were now in clear command of proceedings as Moors found themselves on the backfoot.
Ralph blasted an attempt wide before Kristian Green cleared off the line for the second time on the night.
Moors eventually conceded as Saraiva met a decent cross from the right flank and calmly slotted it beyond the Moors shot stopper after 73 minutes.
Caprice then hit a screamer on 77 minutes, which crashed against the underside of the crossbar but amazingly came out and was cleared to safety.
Moors substitution Harry White tried to add some energy into the game, though his efforts proved too late as Solihull lost 2-1 – remaining ten points clear of the drop zone with 14 games left to play.
Liam McDonald’s side visit Bromley this Saturday (3pm), a fixture which the manager admits he has done his homework for.
He said: “The players know I try to choose the right team with the right individual talents for each specific game.
“It is tough to be on the bench but the likes of Ashley Sammons and Pearson Mwanyongo know their time will come.
“They understand exactly where we are and know that everyone has a part to play – they will grab the opportunity when it arrives.”
Pictures credit: Steve Feeney.
