Report by Bradley Rice
MOORS Academy ran out 4-0 winners at home to Bolehall Swifts on Saturday, but the afternoon was nowhere near as comfortable as the scoreline suggests, writes Bradley Rice.
It was a game full of drama, with Bolehall missing a penalty, having a defender in goal and finishing with ten men.
Arman Khooshkoo had the best chance of the opening stages, when missing a sitter from no more than four yards out.
He soon made amends with a carbon copy of the first chance, this time making no mistake.
Charlie Jones climbed highest from a corner to see his header hit the upright shortly after, whilst centre-half Cain Thomas made an unbelievable goal-saving challenge to deny a leveller before half-time.
Just after the restart, Bolehall’s keeper pulled up injured clutching his knee.
With no substitute goalkeeper on the bench, a defender was forced to don the gloves.
Soon after, it was Moors’ keeper Ben Maxwell in the thick of it.
He rushed out, the contact was minimal but the striker went down and the referee pointed to the spot.
It was harsh on Maxwell, but he more than atoned for his perceived misjudgement by pulling off a fine double save.
Not only did he keep out the penalty but he bounced straight back up to deny the rebound with his legs.
Then, a Bolehall player was given a second yellow for an off the ball incident.
Moors were quick to make the extra man count and substitute Jordon Clarke found Khooshkoo, who set up Nathan Binner on the edge of the box to calmly caress the ball into the corner.
Down to ten and with a makeshift goalkeeper, there was no way back for Bolehall.
The defender-turned keeper pulled off a string of saves to keep the score respectable, although Moors did add two more.
Right-back Reiss McNally bulldozed his way through the defence before driving the ball between the keeper’s legs, before Khooshkoo smashed home a fourth.
It had been far from convincing but Moors had scored four in an eventful game that quite easily could have seen Sam’s side fall flat on their face.
Bradley Rice can be found writing for his blog – Half-Time Oranges – where he provides original insights into the beautiful game from a number of different angles, all sharing the same trend of focusing on real stories from real people.
He can also be found providing live tweets and content for Solihull Moors Academy side @MoorsAcademy
