A deserved victory in a game we controlled almost from start to finish against poor opposition who look relegation certainties. As White Star says, in the final half hour after the subs had come on we played some really good football. However, for the first sixty minutes, while we were clearly the better side and were never threatened defensively, there were periods of average play where we were not particularly creative and relied too much on long balls, and we will have to up our performance level again to win next week. That said, the intense heat did not help and we still created eight or nine clear chances and could have won by a bigger margin, and Solihull did not have a shot on target in the entire game.
Individually, I thought Mangan looked sharp and worked hard and went close on a couple of occasions. However, it was noticeable how much better our movement was when Norwood came on, and I still see him and Cook as our best strike partnership. Similarly, the quality of our football improved dramatically when Jennings came on, with Connor linking up in little triangles with Hughes, Cook and Norwood as we really started to carve the home defence open. In the first half we really missed his creativity in midfield. Duggan did ok again at wing back, but Adam Buxton showed his class when he came on and is too good to be left on the bench; whether he replaces Duggan or one of the centre backs is a matter for debate. It was a great cut back from Buxton which led to Cook's goal. McEveley put in an improved performance but still had a couple of nervous moments. Jay Harris was as energetic as usual, but I thought our best players were McNulty, who dominated their forwards all game, and Cook, who was immense. In addition to his goal, he set up Norburn for the opener, shrugging off a defender and playing a great through ball, and led the line superbly all afternoon. I think he is a tremendous player at this level and will score virtually every game if played regularly. It would be suicidal to sell him.
There was a decent turnout from the SWA, which looked a lot more than the 570 which was officially announced.
With no team running away at the top of the table, and Daggers and Aldershot again dropping points, there is a great opportunity for us this season if we can find consistency.