NEAL Ardley praised the “intensity” with which his side played after Solihull Moors battled to a 1-0 win against Halifax Town in the National League at Damson Park.
Callum Maycock scored what proved to be the winning goal on 52 minutes with a cool finish into the bottom left corner.
The victory lifts Solihull back into the National League play-off places – seven points behind leaders Grimsby Town.
Moors boss Ardley believes playing with more intensity gave his team the upper hand in the second-half after a cagey opening 45 minutes.
Ardley said: “They’re not third in the league by mistake – we made sure we knew our jobs off the ball – I don’t think either team created a chance in the first-half.
“It felt like both teams cancelled each other out, we worked hard to stop them being good at what they wanted to do – maybe that took away from our performance going forward.
“We talked about playing with a bit more intensity and for 20 minutes in the second-half we did that and that’s when we got our goal and looked like we had a little bit more about us.
“We tweaked the shape in the second-half and played it forward a bit quicker – the first time we got Dallas in behind we scored – I’ll take the one-nil.
“The Chairman told me if I can get Callum Maycock scoring there’s a new contract on the table! He gets in the box so many times, it’s great for him.”
Victory for Solihull also marked their fifth clean sheet in as many matches in all competitions and has been pleased by the mentality of his players since conceding five goals at Dagenham and Redbridge last month.
He added: “We’ve come a long way defensively since the Dagenham game and if you keep clean sheets it gives you a chance – we weren’t particularly brilliant but we’ve won one-nil.
“The week after Dagenham we talked about the mentality of the group towards defending and to do two jobs not none.
“A lot of clean sheets come from doing your set-pieces right – 60 to 70 percent of goals that you concede sometimes come from set-pieces – that’s a big part of it.
“I think Booty [Ryan Boot] has made a massive difference as well, he’s been brilliant.”
Solihull are next in action against Altrincham on Tuesday, October 26 at Moss Lane with kick-off at 7:45pm.
