Report by Bradley Rice
IT WAS eight and great for Moors Academy on Saturday afternoon as Sam Manoochehri’s young side outclassed Barnt Green Spartak in an 8-0 thrashing, writes Bradley Rice.
It was a complete performance from Moors, who dominated a game in which everything seemed to come together for them.
Moors had been guilty of starting slow in recent games, but they couldn’t be accused of that on Saturday, as they raced into a ninth minute lead.
Arman Khooshkoo’s pestering led to the first goal as he was bundled to the floor having nipped in down the right, Khooshkoo picked himself up to calmly convert the subsequent spot-kick from twelve yards.
Moors wasted no time in notching number two.
Nathan Binner looked to have asked too much of Michee Mbuti, but he hooked the ball into Khooshkoo’s path to tap home.
Moors’ third came on the half-hour mark when Spartak conceded their second penalty of the game.
Ryan Andrews’s tricky feet were too much for the away side, who hauled him down before gathering himself to fire home from 12-yards.
Two minutes later, it was four, as Binner lashed a great strike from distance to give the keeper no chance.
Spartak looked shell shocked, especially when number five came courtesy of their defender heading into his own net.
Khooshkoo’s shot then came crashing off the bar as the striker was denied a first half hat-trick.
Moors started the second how they had finished the first, hitting number six after wonderful link up play.
Rubyn Gill dummied Keziah Martin’s pass for Mbuti – who rifled the ball into the roof of the net via the underside of the crossbar.
Andrews, who had been pulling the strings all afternoon, thread a perfectly weighted ball through to Gill, who made it seven with the kind of composure we have come to expect from him in recent games.
Moors’ keeper Ben Maxwell then produced a fine save to keep his clean sheet intact on the hour mark, after being a mere spectator all game.
The shot was struck with plenty of whip and bend but Maxwell was equal to it, flying across his goal to flick the ball away.
The eighth didn’t arrive until the final ten minutes, when Martin added the icing to the cake, becoming Moors’ sixth different scorer of the afternoon when curling the ball home from the edge of the area.
It was an incredible team performance that would have sent a strong message out to the rest of the league.
Magnificent Moors are on the march and it is going to take something very special to stop them, Redditch Borough are their next opponents on Saturday (3pm).
Bradley Rice can be found writing for his blog – Half-Time Oranges – where he provides original insights into the beautiful game from a number of different angles, all sharing the same trend of focusing on real stories from real people.
He can also be found providing live tweets and content for Solihull Moors Academy side @MoorsAcademy
