ANDY Whing admitted it was an emotional moment after Solihull Moors booked their place at Wembley following a 2-1 win at Bromley in the FA Trophy semi-finals.
Moors secured a first-ever FA Trophy final appearance courtesy of two goals from defender Alex Whitmore with Ben Krauhaus on target for the home side at Hayes Lane.
And Whing could not hide his delight at the full time whistle with Moors to play Gateshead in the final at Wembley on Saturday, May 11.
Whing said: “It’s emotional, I’m absolutely delighted, I don’t care what competition it’s in, we’re just delighted to get there [to Wembley].
“We had the most quality in the game, even though we’ve scored from two set-pieces, we had to stand up, work our absolute socks off, defend for our lives, everyone defended like absolute lions.
“I’m just delighted for everybody, the chairman as well, he’s the main man, without his backing I wouldn’t be here and the club wouldn’t be here, I thank him massively.
“The biggest thing for me is the group work their socks off every single game, they never let us down, we’ve had bad results this season but they never let the shirt down and that’s all I can ask for.
“I’m just delighted with the endeavour, work rate, teamwork, togetherness and belief, we haven’t achieved anything yet either so I’m excited.”
Moors almost broke the deadlock when Jamey Osborne played a superb pass into the path of Jon Benton only for Grant Smith to tip the ball behind for a corner.
However. the visitors took the lead on 36 minutes when Whitmore turned home Joss Labadie’s cross at the back post moments after the same player had a header cleared off the line.
And Moors went close to a second goal on the stroke of half time as Osborne’s fine effort from 25-yards out came back off the post.
Bromley equalised after the break on the hour mark when Krauhaus powered the ball home via the aid of a deflection after Idris Odutayo’s free-kick came back off the post.
However, Moors reclaimed the lead on 74 minutes as Whitmore flicked a header into the bottom left corner after James Clarke initially headed the ball towards goal at a corner.
Moors spurned a glorious chance to seal their place in the final soon after when Grant parried Labadie’s powerful shot into the path of Nana Boateng only for the former to make a crucial save.
At the other end, Moors goalkeeper Nick Hayes made a superb fingertip save to turn a Bromley header behind for a corner as the visitors saw out the remaining minutes to secure a memorable win.
Solihull are next in action at home to Ebbsfleet United on Tuesday, April 9 with kick-off at 7.45pm at the ARMCO Arena.
