MANAGER Tim Flowers admitted his side were prepared to win ugly after a narrow 1-0 win over FC Halifax Town took them into the FA Trophy Third Round on Tuesday night.
A 59th Nathan Blissett opener was enough to edge the replay after Saturday’s 2-2 draw, which sets up an away trip to Vauxhall Road in a meeting with Hemel Hempstead on Saturday 2nd February that could see them advance to the quarter-finals of the competition with a win.
Jamey Osborne’s low drilled effort was tipped around the post by Halifax keeper Sam Johnson, who later denied an own-goal from Jacob Hanson’s attempted clearance. Ryan Boot in the opposing goal was solid for Moors in denying Scott Quigley and getting down low to keep out Matt Kosylo from breaking the deadlock before the break.
It took a rebound falling to Blissett, after Osborne had struck an effort off the underside of the bar, to put away the glaring opportunity with his head from close-range.
Jamie Reckord almost recorded an assist to fellow full-back Tyrone Williams, who met the delivery with a half-volley straight into the gloves of Johnson.
A break-away almost led to an equaliser, Kosylo picked out Quigley with a pass to go one-on-one with Boot, but he ultimately lost the final battle when putting wide of the mark.
Alex Gudger headed wide later on, whilst Danny Wright sent his first effort of the game off-target, whilst Terry Hawkridge impressed when making his home bow from the bench, whipping a free-kick onto the head of Gudger, who sent narrowly wide.
But despite a game of poor finishing from Moors, in which Flowers accepted his side were below par, he admits sometimes those performances are key for getting over the line and being successful at the end of the season.
“Sometimes if you’re going to do something in any season – whether it’s in the league or the cup – you’ve got to tough it out and win ugly. They managed to do that, so credit to the lads.
“It’s just one of those days where it didn’t click for us, but we won the game.
“We were dogged, we hung in there and, for the most part, did our jobs defensively.”
The Solihull boss also looked ahead a couple of weeks for the Third Round tie in Hertfordshire, and knows exactly how prosperous a win could prove to be should they make it through to the Quarter-Finals.
“We’ve got to go down there, do our due diligence, be professional and try and get a result,” he said.
“Fortunately we got our noses in front because had Halifax have got theirs in front, maybe we’d have found it hard to come back.
“It gave us something to hang onto and statistically we’re decent when we get our noses in front. We don’t get beat very often, which is why Saturday surprised me.
“We’re getting to the latter stages. If we get a result in the next round, then you’re starting to smell some success in the trophy.”
Next up for Moors is a trip to York Road, when they face 19th placed Maidenhead United on Saturday (3pm).
