The Dabbers’ brilliant FA Trophy run brings us to our toughest test yet with a visit to one of the best teams in non-league this Saturday (3pm kick-off) as we travel to Solihull Moors.
Moors Than a Feeling
Solihull have won 4 of their last 6 games to leave them 4th in the National League. They are best of the rest at this moment in time with a 9 point deficit to the top 3, and have the Greater Manchester trio of Phil Parkinson’s Altrincham, Oldham and Rochdale narrowly behind.
The two defeats in that run have been to runaway league leaders Chesterfield, a gutting 3-2 loss after being 2-0 up and seeing that disappear in a 9-minute blitz, and to Oldham. They did however beat Chesterfield 2-0 at home just 6 days before that defeat. Last time out, they swatted aside Woking 3-0. Before the wins over Chesterfield and Woking, they had lost their previous 3 home games.
With Andy Whing at the helm and aiming for a first ever promotion to the EFL, it’s not clear what sort of team they will put out. But with an 82-place gap in league places between the two teams, whatever players are out there will provide a stern test for the Dabbers.
Unsurprisingly, the two sides have never played before. But the Dabbers have played against an Andy Whing team previously, as the Dabbers lost to his Banbury United team in the FA Cup in 2021, on the way to taking them to promotion to National League North.
Last Round-up
Nantwich’s experience against National League opposition in the 3rd Round should stand us in good stead. We memorably defeated York City, 64 places higher at the time, 3-2 last month at the Swansway. Highlights below.
That was the 5th side from higher divisions seen off by Paul Carden’s side in cup football this season, two 7th tier teams, two National League North, and one National League.
Players to Watch
With the usual caveats about rotation for cup football, Solihull’s top scorer is Josh Kelly on 11 goals. His is a good non-league story, starting off at Windsor in the Combined Counties League, he was picked up by Maidenhead where he grew and progressed and is now firing near the top of the National League for Solihull, a career path that some of the younger Dabbers can look at and be inspired by.
Other regular recent goalscorers include Callum Maycock, Mark Beck and Matty Warburton. And some more familiar names to EFL fans include former Leicester, Wolves, Fulham and Derby defender Richard Stearman.
Match Information
Full info on tickets and travel is in a separate post HERE.