Solihull Moors v Aldershot Town Match Preview – Saturday 10th August 2019
On Tuesday evening, Danny Searle secured his first competitive victory as the manager of Aldershot Town FC and it was a derby win to boot! The Shots travelled to Woking to take on Alan Dowson’s ‘Cards’ and turned up trumps with a 1-0 win, thanks to a neat volleyed finish from Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong, assisted by skipper Dean Rance. On Saturday, Searle’s charges head for the Midlands to take on last season’s National League Runners-up Solihull Moors. BBC Surrey’s Rob Worrall previews the game…
Shots Squad:
Searle will once again be without injured Centre-Back’s Kodi Lyons-Foster (Ankle) and Ollie O’Dwyer (Hip Flexor) and will also await news on the fitness of Berkeley-Agyepong, Ethan Chistlett and James Rowe – all of whom picked up knocks and bumps at Kingfield on Tuesday evening.
Opposition:
Name: Solihull Moors
Nickname: The Moors
Manager: Tim Flowers
Stadium: Damson Park (Capacity: 5,500)
2018/19 National League position: 2nd (Runners-Up & Play-Off semi finalists)
Brief History:
Solihull Moors FC were founded in 2007 following the merger of Moor Green and Solihull Borough. Solihull were promoted from the National League North as champions in 2016. They finished 16th in the first season in the National League and 18th the second time around. Last season, they improved significantly, finishing as runners-up to eventual Champions Leyton Orient.
The Gaffer:
Tim Flowers took over as Solihull boss in June 2018 after Mark Yates left the side to join National League champions Macclesfield Town.
Flowers had previously been part of the backroom staff at Leicester City, Manchester City, Northampton Town, Nottingham Forest and Fulham as Goalkeeping Coach. Before joining Solihull, Flowers was Assistant Manager at Coventry City, QPR, Hull City and most recently Kidderminster Harriers.
Squad:
Flowers has retained the vast majority of players from last season’s excellent campaign, including impressive goalkeeper, Ryan Boot, skipper Liam Daly, ex-Premiership midfielder Darren Carter, forward Jamey Osborne and striker Danny Wright. Flowers has also strengthened at the back with the cheeky late signing of Callum Howe from promotion rivals Harrogate Town. Up front, whilst Adi Yussuf (Blackpool) and Jermaine Hylton (Motherwell) have moved on, Flowers has brought in the strike power of Paul McCallum (Eastleigh) who scored 26 goals last season, finishing as runner-up to Danny Rowe in the top-scorer charts.
Referee:
Saturday’s referee is unknown at the time of publication.
Commentary:
BBC Surrey Sport’s Rob Worrall and former Shots Centre-Back Anthony Charles will be covering the game live on Saturday afternoon. Tune in to the BBC Sport website, or the BBC Sport App from 2:50pm for full match commentary. To interact with them, tweet @RobShot66.
