Moors come back from the brink to claim a point against Barnet - The Solihull Observer

Moors come back from the brink to claim a point against Barnet

Solihull Editorial 18th Feb, 2019 Updated: 19th Feb, 2019   0

MANAGER Tim Flowers was in disbelief how his Solihull Moors side did not claim all three points against Barnet on Saturday, after making a comeback from two goals down to draw 2-2.

A Nathan Blissett goal shortly after the visitors went down to ten men was followed up by Kyle Storer’s equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time to claim a point.

Flowers could not fathom how his side’s efforts resulted in sharing points with Barnet, and felt his side should have won the game despite chasing a two-goal deficit.

“How we didn’t win I don’t know, I just do not know. A mixture of poor finishing, great last minute blocks and poor decision making on the final pass,” he said.




“You can’t give anyone two goals. The two goals we gave away were horrific – both from throw ins in the middle of the pitch.

“I thought we were poorly out of the blocks for 15 minutes. We looked slow, sluggish and then all of a sudden, we managed to get a foothold in the game.”


The Solihull boss thought Moors dominated proceedings after the slow start, particularly in the second-half even prior to the sending off, but sees plenty of value in claiming a point looking ahead to their season run-in.

“It was a case of whether we could get the next one, obviously we did and when we scored the equaliser I honestly thought we would win – and we nearly did.

“From 2-0 down it’s a point, you can’t disrespect a point.

“We fight on, it’s a long way to go, it could well be a blanket finish for a lot of teams.

Barnet had won the reverse fixture 2-0 at The Hive back in October, and the match looked to be heading the same way until Ashley Charles’ red card helped bring an upturn in fortunes for Moors.

Some slack defending led to Wesley Fonguck opening the scoring on four minutes after being allowed the room to put the ball away after collecting a cross from the right-wing.

The best efforts in the first-half for Moors came when Adi Yussuf slipped the ball beyond goalkeeper Will Huffer, only to see his effort cleared off the line, before Darren Carter cannoned the ball off the crossbar with a long-range strike.

Moors continued to create chances in the game, but were unable to find the finish after getting into dangerous areas.

Nathan Coulthirst provided a killer blow when he went one-on-one with Ryan Boot after a defensive error and duly lifted the ball over the keeper and into the net – doubling Barnet’s lead.

Solihull stepped up to the challenge though and threw Matty Stenson and Terry Hawkridge into the fray to change things up, shortly before Charles snapped down Jamey Osborne to receive a straight red.

Five minutes later it was 2-1 and game on again when a free-kick from Alex Gudger was cleared into Blissett’s path to put the ball away from close-range.

Solihull continued to fight for an equaliser, Stenson sending a shot inches past the post after being played into space by Lee Vaughan.

Six minutes of added on time was just what Moors had ordered, and they snatched an equaliser with two minutes remaining through a long-throw into Storer’s path.

A point may be seen as a point gained despite not winning the game, as rivals Leyton Orient, Salford and AFC Fylde all lost their weekend fixtures – although Wrexham gained ground and moved into second with a win.

Attentions now turn to hosting Saturday’s FA Trophy quarter-final clash with AFC Telford United (3pm), with the Moors two games away from a Wembley showpiece final.

The club would like to remind supporters that the match is ticket only and will be a segregated game by the advice of police – tickets can be purchased online here.

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