Although Coventry had good passages of play where they controlled the ball well and scored a couple of goals, they just couldn’t match Solihull’s speed on the ball and their overall level of play. Solihull boasted a full squad of international footballers – their forward line was slick and seemed to be half a yard ahead of Coventry. Garry was called on many times to make crucial saves and his man of the match performance kept the score line more respectable. It was always going to be a difficult task, but credit to the Coventry players who stood by their man, never gave up and will get back up again.
Solihull opened the scoring within a few minutes, with a second coming from a penalty when a Coventry player denied a goal scoring opportunity. A few minutes later Coventry hit back when a long ball from Tony found Phil, who turned his marker and shot low into the bottom corner. Despite this rally, Coventry found themselves down by 5-1 at half time.
The second half was much better. Coventry was applying more pressure, marking much better and creating more chances. Phil scored a penalty when Solihull racked up too many running offences, then he had another chance from the spot only to be denied by their keeper. Final score Coventry 2 – 7 Solihull.
65s team: Garry Bench, Tony Malone, Neil Jackson, Pete Skelsey, Kev Shannon, Kev Perrott, Phil Maund, Ken Badland, Ray Lewis
65s Manager: Ray Lewis
Report by: Ray Lewis