JIMMY Shan’s Solihull Moors dusted themselves down from a six-month absence with a goalless draw at Kettering Town on Saturday.
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Alex Gudger assesses his options. Picture by Richard King.
A real battle was expected from the National League North hosts in Moors’ first fixture of pre-season, and that is exactly what the Poppies provided at Latimer Park, showing real initiative to take the game to their higher-level opponents and going close to taking the lead through Josh Oyinsan’s curling effort.
The 25-year-old went closer still when firing over from a matter of yards, a miss that failed to punish a lacklustre Solihull side that were clearly struggling to get into their stride.
As far as the visitors’ chances were concerned, a Kyle Storer drive that glanced wide of the mark and a cross-shot from Jake Beesley were the only notable efforts from the opening half of play – leaving plenty to be desired from the second.
With a customary overhaul of the starting XI enacted at half-time, as is such in pre-season games, Moors immediately looked brighter and were only denied an opening goal from Adam Rooney by the raising of an offside flag.
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James Ball looks up for options. Picture by Richard King.
Momentum clearly started to build for the visitors and it only seemed a matter of time before the opener arrived, again Rooney at the heart of things when chesting down Stephen Gleeson’s through ball and firing straight at the goalkeeper.
A foul on another former Birmingham City man – this time Mitch Hancox – failed to result in a penalty as referee Andy Woolmer waved away strong appeals from the away side, a moment which appeared to spell an end to any further chances from either side.
While Solihull were unable to muster a winning goal, blowing away the cobwebs will be of utmost importance to Shan ahead of an even-bigger test against Championship opposition in Coventry City on Tuesday night.