Aldershot Town 1 Solihull Moors 5
Aldershot Town’s latest National League fixture was a difficult one with a heavy home defeat against Solihull Moors at The EBB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Solihull’s Joe Sbarra scored a first-half brace, either side of a Conor Wilkinson flick and Alex Whitmore header to round off a difficult first half for The Shots.
Second half-substitute Manny Sonupe finished from close range to score a Solihull fifth, with The Shots scoring late on despite playing the final 20 minutes with 10 mens as Josh Barrett scored from close range to claim his fifth of the season.
It was one enforced change to the side which started the New Year off brilliantly against Wealdstone, with a switch of midfielders seeing Cameron Hargreaves returning after an impressive cameo last time out, with Dejan Tetek unavailable this time around.
Aldershot Town found themselves having to respond to an early opener from the away side, with Joe Sbarra finding the left-hand corner to give Solihull the lead six minutes in.
Captain Ryan Hill was on hand to stop a threatening attack from the away side three minutes later, before The Shots were able to create their first chance of the game in the 11th minute.
After the ball was moved around nicely from a number of Aldershot Town players, it was eventually set across for Matt Penney to strike an effort on the first-time volley. However, his effort inside the Solihull penalty area was unfortunately off-target.
It was a first half that was a little bit stop-start, with players on both sides requiring medical treatment in the frosty conditions on Saturday afternoon.
This saw the early change from John Coleman with Matt Penney unable to recover from his injury and replaced by Ryan Jones on that wide left-hand side.
Following this, there was a spell of Aldershot Town pressure midway through the first half, with Josh Barrett seeing efforts blocked in the 22nd and 31st minute, before Ryan Jones’ low strike in the 34th minute was again blocked by the away side.
Despite these chances, Solihull were able to score their second with just over five minutes left of the first half, with a low Jacob Wakeling effort deflecting off Conor Wilkinson to loop into an already committed Coniah Boyce-Clarke.
Town’s first half became even more tricky just before the end of the first 45, with Alex Whitmore heading home from a corner.
There was one more chance for Town in the 10 minutes of added time, as Josh Barrett fired an effort inside the Solihull penalty area over the bar, before Joe Sbarra got a late fourth goal for the away side, leaving The Shots with work to do in the second half.
Half-time: Aldershot Town 0 Solihull Moors 4
The second half was always going to be a tricky one to respond to for The Shots, but they were able to create a number of chances to get on the scoresheet, with Christy Grogan and Ryan Jones seeing efforts blocked and saved in the 53rd minute.
Second half substitute Hady Ghandour also saw a header go just over the bar just past the hour mark, but unfortunately The Shots found themselves further behind when Solihull substitute Manny Sonupe scored his side’s fifth in the 68th minute.
With just under 20 minutes to go, Aldershot Town had to play with a man disadvantage, after Christy Grogan was initially given a yellow card for what the referee deemed was a foul, before receiving his second yellow shortly after by showing his discontent to the this decision.
However, The Shots were able to get themselves a late consolation as Josh Barrett poked home a flicked effort from close range to finish out the evening’s fixture.
The Shots will look to dust themselves off and get back to winning ways with an away trip to fellow Hampshire side, Eastleigh, up next for John Coleman’s men.
Full-time: Aldershot Town 1 Solihull Moors 5
Attendance: 2,307 (66 away)
Shots lineup: 41. Coniah Boyce-Clarke, 6. Theo Widdrington (Anderson 84), 7. Cameron Hargreaves, 10. Josh Barrett (Rai 84),15. Christy Grogan, 17. James Henry (Ghandour 54), 19. Ryan Hill (C), 24. Charlie Warren, 25. Will Nightingale, 33. Sam Inwood, 42. Matt Penney (Jones 20)
Subs not used: 16. Pat Nash, 9. Kwame Thomas, 36. Will Armitage
Solihull Moors lineup: 1. Laurie Walker, 2. James Clarke (Rutherford 65), 3. Cameron Green, 4. Jamey Osbourne (C) (Tipton 77), 5. Alex Whitmore, 10. Conor Wilkinson (Stevenson 76), 12. Darius Lipsuic, 15. Scott High, 18. Jacob Wakeling (Sonupe 67), 22. Joe Sbarra (Worman 66), 26. Tyler French
Subs not used: 33. Aaron Flahavan, 7. Callum McFarlane
