I am making a belated visit to a Vanarama National League game today. I did watch Worcester City game a few months ago but did not take my camera that day.
I have been looking at seeing Solihull Moors for a few weeks as they have been at the top of their division for a while now. They are playing the 'Trawler Boys' of Lowestoft Town, a team who I have never watched before and as they are in danger of relegation, will have everything to play for.
The forecast is good today with sunny spells predicted, although still cold.
My train journey was problem free and when I get to Solihull, it's sunny and the town centre is busy as usual. I have time to get a meal and a quick mooch around the shops, then hop on the bus which takes me to within half a mile of the ground. It lies behind the Jaguar-Daimler motor works and not far from Birmingham Airport, with planes taking off near by on a regular basis.
After entering the ground and buying a programme, I make for the far end of the ground to take my photos. I notice a big guy decked out in Lowestoft hat and scarf and who had been talking to a female photographer. I guess she must be the Lowestoft photographer, Shirley Whitlow, whose work I'd seen this morning on the club website. I talk to him and it's her husband Paul. He is full of information about the club and tells me that Solihull is one of the nearest clubs to them in this division.
Soon it's kick-off time and Solihull are in their usual strip of blue and yellow while Lowestoft are in their change strip of all white. I'm surprised to read that Solihull have yet to win against Lowestoft in the few games they have played against each other so far.
(Solihull's Akwabi Assante, closely marked by 2 Lowestoft defenders)
The early exchanges see the home side on top although Henderson of Lowestoft hits a great shot which is turned around for a corner by the Solihull custodian, Lewis.
Solihull do take the lead they had been threatening to do in the 17th minute. Their right back Nottingham crosses for Liam Daly to power home a header (as shown below).
They have other chances to further their advantage, with Nottingham firing over the bar and Byrne's volley well saved by the Town keeper, Killip.
So 'The Moors' are on top and Lowestoft will have to up their game after the interval to get anything from this match.
During half-time, a number of Lowestoft fans come down to this end as their team will be attacking this goal in the next 45 minutes. Some are resplendent in colourful curly wigs and they have certainly been partaking of alcoholic refreshments today, judging by their cheery banter.
After the break, Solihull soon increase their lead, when Nottingham goes on a great run down the right and his cross from the right is met by the oncoming Assante who beats the keeper with his shot.
It's looking like an easy stroll for the league leaders but Lowestoft are thrown a lifeline when an attempted header back to their keeper by a defender is intercepted by Crowe who makes no mistake in despatching the ball in to the Solihull net.
The goal greatly encourages the Trawler Boys and the rest of the half sees them largely on top.
Despite their pressure though, they cannot produce an equaliser. They have their appeals for a penalty, close to full time, waived aside by the referee when a Lowestoft shot hits a defender's arm. Lowestoft's captain, Rossi Jarvis, complains loudly to the ref but is only rewarded with a yellow card for his efforts.
This win sees The Moors extend their lead at the top to 9 points over AFC Fylde in second place. They will have to hit better form though if they want to become league champions. Lowestoft on the other hand see Brackley and Telford draw away from them down the other end of the table after they have gained a draw and an away win respectively.
Match admission: £10
Match programme: £2.50
Match attendance: 522
Match entertainment value: 6.5/10
I am heading to the Autotech Stadium at Solihull today to watch the play-off hopefuls clash of Solihull Moors and Boston United. It's a cloudy day with a chance of a shower this afternoon. I set out at 12:17pm from Worcester Foregate Street station and reach Solihull town centre for 1:35pm. It just gives me enough time for a mooch around the excellent shopping centre here and a quick bite to eat before catching the No.966 bus for the ground.
We soon have 8 Boston fans boarding the bus and I think there will probably be a good sized contingent of their supporters today, as they seem to have a good loyal following.
20 minutes later I alight at the stop which is located near the back of the Land Rover works, right on the outskirts of the town and it's also close to Birmingham Airport.
I have a pleasant surprise when arriving at the entrance as I find it's only £9 to get in. At Worcester City it's £12 for an adult ticket and going up to £13 for next season. It's £2.50 for the match programme but it's a decent effort and it's the first programme Iv'e bought for a while now.
I also have some in interest in the match because Solihull feature several ex-Worcester players in their squad, most notably, Rob Elvins who is now their captain and the No.5 linchpin of the team. He was one of my favourite players at Worcester and was sad to see him leave at the end of last season when City vacated St.George's Lane. Their team today also features Michael Taylor at No.10 and Richard Taundry at No.8 who were at the City recently too.
When the teams come out, Solihull are in this season's new colours of blue & yellow horizontal stripes and Boston in their usual gold & black kit.
( Michael Taylor heads the ball in this Solihull attack )
Solihull seem to be relying a lot on long balls played to their strikers, the tall No.9, Omar Bogle and Michael Taylor. Boston seem to be a bit more composed on the ball and I am impressed by their No.3, Rene Steer who makes a couple of dangerous runs down the left.
The Solihull keeper, Jasinder Singh makes a good save after about 15 minutes and a bit later on their is a nasty looking collision between Bogle who stumbles while racing for the ball and crashes in to Boston's No.8, Junior Konadu.
( The players wait for the trainers to come on to the pitch )
After a few minutes of treatment though both players appear to be ok although a little shaken.
On 37 minutes though Boston take the lead when Boston's Ricky Miller is brought down in the penalty area, much to the delight of the Boston fans behind that goal and he fires in the resulting penalty to give the visitors the advantage.
Before the interval arrives though, Solihull have 2 penalty appeals themselves. They both feature their striker Michael Taylor and only the 2nd one is upheld by the ref. Omar Bogle though blasts the ball wide though and Boston go in still clinging on to their 1-0 lead.
There is a crowd of 459 today and I reckon that at least 200 of these are Boston fans. They have a very good fan base considering the population of the town is only about 35-40,000.
Solihull's stadium has been renamed this season due to be being sponsored by Autotech. It's probably the reason they have changed their team colours too. You can't blame them as they are not a well supported club and need the money to survive at this level. They have a strong looking squad this season and although they sat in ninth place before today's game, earlier on in the season had been amongst the pace setters in this division. Boston are sitting in 6th place, just one point behind Guiseley in the play-off positions and have been having a good run recently.
Solihull's ground has one main stand along the side of the ground nearest the entrance,which also houses the changing rooms and club house. There is also a covered seated area at the end near the entrance too, while brave souls like myself are out in the open. This is not much of a problem today as there was only a period of about 15 minutes when there was a light smattering of rain.
( The Moors defence stands firm from this Boston free kick )
Play resumes for the next 45 minutes and soon Boston go close when McGhee fires in a cross and Singh in the Moors goal almost lets the ball go behind him in to the net.
Solihull do equalise though in the 62nd minute when they are awarded a free kick on the left, 20 yards out. Bogle takes it and the ball takes a big deflection off a defender in to the net with the keeper having no chance of saving it.
( Jay Dowie takes a shot at the Solihull goal )
Boston who are playing the better football in this half are awarded another penalty with 15 minutes to go. Singh brings down Miller in the area and Miller fires in the penalty in off the underside of the bar.
The visitors manage to see out the win and collect 3 vital points. This result puts paid to Solihull's last chance of making the play-offs this time round while Boston are still in with a chance. I notice that their last game is away to.....Worcester City! Should be quite a game.
I have been to this ground 3 times now and I notice that Birmingham City Ladies will be playing here in the Women's Super League in the summer after switching their home games from Stratford Town. Maybe I will visit again soon!
I finally got my football season under way today when I took in the pre-season friendly between Pilkington XXX of the Midland Combination Premier League and Solihull Moors Under-21's side.
Originally I had earmarked the Midland Alliance game at Heath Hayes v Loughborough University as my first game, as it would have been a new ground for me. However I received an email from the Pilkington President, Saul Gray, asking me to come along to their game as there was going to be a special presentation for one of their committee members, a certain, Dennis Ellis, in recognition of his 50 years of service to Non-League football in the Birmingham area and he wanted me to take photos of the occasion. I agreed to go as I like to hear about these kind of stories of dedicated service to the game.
When I set out on the train from Worcester Foregate Street, the weather forecast was of sunshine and showers and the closer we got to Birmingham, the cloudier it got. On the way to my destination at King's Norton it did rain but miraculously stopped just before we reached there.
I arrived at the Triplex Sports Ground in time for the presentation at 1pm. Dennis Ellis was invited to join Pilkington's committee last year and his presentation was set up at the ground for Dennis surrounded by his good wife,family and friends.Dennis was a keen player in the South Birmingham Saturday and Sunday Leagues but unfortunately sustained a severe leg injury which curtailed his playing career at an early age. In his 50 years of service to the game, Dennis has taken on the roles of, Club Secretary, Press Officer, Referee, member of the Birmingham County FA Council, Secretary & Manager of a successful Sunday football team for 13 years AND a kit man. He was instrumental in the rise of the Castle Vale football team too until they folded last year. A successful man of many roles and a gentleman too by all who know him.
Steve Poole, the Vice-Chairman of the Birmingham County FA led the presentation with a speech praising Dennis for his big contribution to Non-League football in the local area and presented him with a special service medal.
(Here is Dennis in the centre with a signed Pilkington XXX shirt, with the club's Committee in attendance and Steve Poole, next to last on the right.Well done Dennis!)
Everyone who attended were well looked after with plenty of refreshments.
(Here, Dennis blows out candles on his 50th Anniversary cake)
So now to Pilkington's final pre-season friendly. There was a final downpour of 10 minutes duration which thankfully ended 10 minutes before the game and then both teams came on to the pitch in their new kits. Pilkington in their red shirts with dark blue shorts and socks and Solihull in a blue and yellow striped kit. I could see that Pilkington had a lot of new faces in their side and mainly younger ones at that. Prior to this game they had won 5 of their 6 previous friendlies too!
The match starts off at a brisk pace with both sides eager to impress and sharpen themselves up for the new season with Pilkington having the lion's share of possession but can't make the most of their early dominance.
Solihull take the lead after 20 minutes and a bit later should have scored a second but one of their forwards makes the mistake of making sure the ball goes over the line and is flagged up for off-side.
In first-half injury time, the Pilkington keeper comes racing out to help clear the ball but only succeeds in clattering in to one of his own defenders.
After a delay of five minutes he manages to get up on his feet. Although walking with a limp he carries on in goal for the rest of the game on one good leg.
So it's 0-1 to Solihull at half-time and still everything to play for.
The attendance today looks to be about 50 and I chat to 2 Solihull supporters. One says that there is not much between the teams but Solihull have the greater threat up-front, which is about right from what I have seen so far. Pilkington's defence thankfully do seem to have improved from last season when they had the worst goal difference in the division.
Again the second-half is played at a good pace and although there are not many chances on goal it's a good competitive game. The No.7 for Pilkington shows a lot of pace and troubles the Solihull defence on several occasions. (Seen below with 2 markers in attendance)
Of course both sides make several substitutions during this half and Solihull score another goal, which I miss while checking over some shots on my camera screen.
( One of the Pilkington substitutes runs at the Solhull defence)
So the game ends with a 2-0 win for the visitors and it's been a worthwhile workout for both sides. On the evidence of this match I think Pilkington should have a better season this time and look forward to seeing them again soon.
