FOOTBALL: SOLIHULL Moors advanced to the second round of the Buildbase FA Trophy, though it took the club two attempts to stage their first round clash against Tranmere Rovers.
A floodlight failure on Saturday cut the game short, forcing Tranmere to make the trip south just 48hours later.
Rovers can feel robbed of victory after the Merseyside outfit led 1-0 before Saturday’s game was cut short towards the end of the first half.
Monday’s game took place in far from ideal conditions, with thick fog loitering over the Automated Technology Stadium.
Moors had the first chance of the game when Jamey Osborne and Jermaine Hylton linked up, only to see a resulting shot fired wide from the edge of the area.
Afolayan also pulled a shot wide before Moors were rewarded on seven minutes when Osborne hit an unstoppable shot from 35 yards to grant Moors a lead.
Tranmere first threatened on 18minutes when a poor clearance went as far as James Norwood on the edge of the box. But his volley was hit straight at Max O’Leary in goal.
Oliver Norburn then tried to recreate the goal he had scored on Saturday, but on this occasion his free kick went the wrong side of the post.
Moors’ lead was then doubled before half time when referee Christopher O’Donnell awarded a penalty to the home side.
Jermaine Hylton made no mistake from 12yards, calmly chipping the ball down the centre to extend Moors’ lead to two.
The visitors had a golden opportunity within a couple of minutes of the restart when James Norwood was found in the box, but his shot was dragged wide.
Hylton then forced a fantastic save from Tranmere goalkeeper Pilling. A weak back pass from Steve McNulty was pounced upon by the striker who went through one on one with Pilling, but the Tranmere man tipped it round the post and prevented Solihull from putting the game to bed.
Mark Yates’ men continued to press for a third goal. Afolayan was unlucky not to see his efforts find the target.
Tranmere themselves had chances. But they struggled to break down the Solihull defence, who restricted them to half chances only.
Hylton saw red for the hosts in the 90th minute for a late tackle on Tranmere man Adam Buxton, but it made no difference to the score line.
Moors will play either Spennymoor Town or Gainsborough Trinity in the second round on Saturday, January 13.
Solihull Moors: O’Leary, K Green, Murombedzi, Hylton, Afolayan (Martin 89), Reckord, P Green, Daly (c), Kelleher, Osborne (Carline, 85), Thomas.
Picture: Tom King.
