Playing only their second match of the year, the Lions roared back from the FA Trophy defeat at Aldershot to inflict a 3-0 defeat on Solihull Moors, coincidentally the same score by which the Moors triumphed at Nethermoor in the first match of the campaign.

In a first half where chances were at a premium, it was the home side who took control early on as the visitors looked to get some momentum going after their enforced absence. Following a series of forays into the Moors penalty area, Alex Johnson went close when his shot looped up off a defender only for Gary Birch to head out from under the bar.

The pressure did eventually pay off just before the interval when a short corner found Gavin Rothery just outside the area and, when his rasping shot was blocked, Danny Hall was first to react to nab a classic poacher’s goal.

The visitors doubled their lead just after the break when Jake Lawlor’s header from a corner sailed through a gaggle of players and ended up in the corner of the net, with keeper Jas Singh looking as mystified as the rest of us as to how it had got there.

Wayne Brooksby put the match beyond Solihull’s reach on 73 minutes when he took a pass from Alex Johnson, who had latched on to a Steven Drench punt upfield, and fired past Singh.

Although the keeper got a hand to it, he couldn’t deny the Lions a third goal in what proved to be a comfortable win.

Mark Bower’s post-match interview

Team:

1-Drench

2-Holdsworth (Harrison, 88)

3-Meynell

4-Parker

5-Lawlor

6-Hall

7-Brooksby

8-Boshell

9-A Johnson  (O Johnson, 80)

10-Forrest (Potts, 74)

11-Rothery

12-Harrison

14-Potts

15-Ellis

16-O Johnson

18-Dickinson