At Glanford Park, it’s not been an easy few years for Scunthorpe United and they certainly felt flashbacks of the pain and misery on Saturday afternoon after they were beaten by Solihull Moors.
The match was played at a high tempo from the opening seconds until the very end. Newly relegated Scunthorpe were three nil up after thirty-six minutes after a goal from Colin Daniel and a brace from striker Joe Nuttall put the home side in absolute dreamland.
However, Solihull Moors quickly fought back with Jamey Osborne and Fierce Kelleher pulling goals back just before half-time. Andrew Dallas levelled the scoring late on before loanee Alex Reid grabbed the winner within a matter of minutes to ensure all three points would be returning to the Midlands.
Defeat saw Scunthorpe United drop down to 21st in the National League table whilst Solihull Moors climbed to third after the opening four matches.
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Story of the match
Scunthorpe United made five changes from the side that featured on Tuesday night against Woking, with Dan Gallimore, Kgosi Ntlhe, Jai Rowe, Alfie Beestin and Colin Daniel all coming into the starting eleven.
Elsewhere, Solihull Moors made two changes from the side that drew against York City on Wednesday as Callum Whelan and Connor Parsons were handed their first starts for the club.
Within the opening minutes, Scunthorpe should have taken the lead when a long-ball found striker Joe Nuttall but his effort was saved very well by Louie Moulden in the Moors goal.
Unfortunately for Solihull Moors, that chance was just a sign of things to come as Nuttall gave the home side the lead through a very similar piece of play. However, this time, Joe Nuttall lifted the ball over Moulden to make it one nil.
Within three minutes, Scunthorpe United had managed to double their lead. Nuttall turned provider this time as his low ball was fired home by a recalled Colin Daniel to put the home side in dreamland at Glanford Park.
Solihull Moors did have chances to pull a goal back. Firstly, a quick free- kick from Jamey Osborne was saved by Dewhurst and from the resulting corner, Callum Whelan’s delivery found the head of Fierce Kelleher but his effort went wide.
The home side punished Solihull Moors with a carbon copy of the opening goal. A long ball from Jai Rowe found Nuttall who raced onto the end and dinked it over Moulden to make it three.
Arguably, out of nowhere, Solihull Moors pulled one back in unlikely style when midfielder Jamey Osborne found himself in space roughly twenty-five yards out. He took a touch before firing an effort into the bottom corner.
The goal opened the floodgates for Solihull Moors as full-back Ben Coker struck an excellent free-kick which was saved brilliantly by Dewhurst. From the resulting corner, Fierce Kelleher rose highest to power a header past the keeper to make it three two.
Things could have got even worse for Scunthorpe United shortly after when, Scotsman Andrew Dallas’ superb strike hit the woodwork within seconds of the referees half-time whistle but the first-half came to a close
Going into the second-half, Solihull Moors were definitely flying high in confidence and made two changes at the break. Fierce Kelleher and Connor Parsons were replaced by Reiss McNally and Ryan Barnett.
One of the substitutes (Ryan Barnett) looked extremely lively when coming on as he twice put very dangerous crosses into the penalty area. One of which found Joe Sbarra for Solihull Moors but neither chance was converted.
The home side did have opportunities of their own as Feeney picked out Beestin with a pass, however the first touch was poor and his effort eventually deflected wide of the Solihull goal. Jai Rowe came within mini metres of restoring Scunthorpe’s two goal margin when he slid at the back post but the ball went behind for a goal-kick.
Callum Whelan and Andrew Dallas continued to look dangerous for Solihull Moors late on but Dewhurst (on loan from Sheffield United) was in complete control.
However, Scunthorpe United couldn’t keep Andrew Dallas quiet all afternoon, and the Scotsman eventually pulled the visitors level. Dallas was played through on goal, and he slotted it cooly passed the goalkeeper to level the scoring.
To say Scunthorpe were struggling with confidence would be truthful as their heads dropped and within minutes Solihull Moors pounced once again.
Substitute Alex Reid was on hand to complete a dream comeback late on with an exceptional finish past Dewhurst to ensure the three points would be heading to the Midlands, as Neal Ardley’s dream start continues in the National League.
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Full time: Scunthorpe 3-4 Solihull
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Player of the match
Both sides had players that stood out, particularly Joe Nuttall in the first half for Scunthorpe. However, Andrew Dallas for the visitors, continued his fine start to the season and was a constant problem for the Scunthorpe United defence all afternoon.
