Harrogate Town 5 Solihull Moors 2: Sulphurites make flying start to life back in the National League

Relegated from League Two at the end of last season, the Sulphurites made quite the statement at Wetherby Road, smashing in three late strikes having surrendered a richly-deserved two-goal advantage earlier in the second half.

And such an exciting attacking display, built on fluid passing football, bodes extremely well given the unfamiliar look to the side which took to the field.

Simon Weaver has been a busy man over the summer months, bringing in no fewer than 12 players in an attempt to re-shape his squad into one capable of competing at the top end of the fifth tier.

Seven of those new faces were named in his starting line-up, including left-sided defender Ethan Bristow, whose capture was only announced two hours before Saturday’s contest kicked-off.

But, there were no obvious teething troubles and Town made a fast start to the contest, getting themselves into a great position to break the deadlock inside 60 seconds.

Lewis Payne was played in behind having overlapped to good effect down the right, though he could not pick out a team-mate with his low cross despite being in acres of space.

With Solihull content initially content to keep men behind the ball on a hot afternoon, the hosts continued to boss possession and went on to dominate the entirety of the opening period.

Following a sustained spell of patient passing and moving, a decent opportunity to break the deadlock arrived in the 20th minute after Solihull failed to deal with a free-kick into their box.

Striker Brad Dolaghan’s eyes must have lit up as the ball dropped kindly for him close to the penalty spot, however his his first-time effort was beaten away by Max Metcalfe.

Wing-back Ethan Bristow was next to threaten with a strike from the left-hand side of the penalty area that he dragged across the face of goal and wide.

Cathal Heffernan then had Metcalfe scrambling as he powered an outrageous header goalwards from at least 35 yards out, with the ball only just clearing the cross-bar.

Just moments later, another chance came the way of Dolaghan, but having done well to bring Payne’s right-wing centre under control, he scuffed the finish.

The one-way traffic continued, and after dancing past a defender on the edge of the box, Bailey Hobson forced Metcalfe into a good near-post stop with his feet.

Bryn Morris was next to threaten, side-footing wide of the mark after Payne had taken aim following a Morgan Williams corner.

With the visitors offering so little, a Town goal did look to be coming, though when it did materialise a minute before half-time, the nature of it was not quite in keeping with the tidy, measured football Weaver’s men had produced up to that point.

Another Williams corner from the left was not properly cleared by the Solihull defence and, after bouncing between a couple of players, the ball eventually broke on the edge of the penalty area for centre-half Archie Baptiste to crack home on the half-volley.

It would have been virtually impossible for Moors to have come out for the second half and shown any less intent than they had done during the first 45 minutes, but although they did enjoy a brief spell of possession immediately from kick-off, they were soon on the back foot once again.

Dologhan threatened again just two minutes after the resumption, stinging the palms of Metcalfe following good work down the left by Bristow.

With Harrogate seizing the ascendancy again from that moment onwards, they found pockets of space in the opposition half and, so neat was their interplay, Solihull simply could not live with them.

Thus, an utterly inevitable second goal duly arrived in the 58th minute.

Following another sequence of play that resembled a session of attack versus defence on the training ground, Morris’ strike looped over Metcalfe and into the net via a big deflection off Tyrell Warren after Williams had seen an initial blast blocked.

With 66 minutes on the clock, the visitors finally threatened to make an impression on the game as Jacob Wakeling counter-attacked at pace and Ben Wodskou was unfortunate to see his finish deflected just wide.

Then, in the 72nd-minute, following a slight momentum shift, Moors managed to get themselves back into the contest when Wakeling capitalised on some unconvincing Sulphurites defending at a corner to nod home from close range.

Having been in cruise control, a degree of nervousness crept into Harrogate’s play and the match suddenly felt as if it was very much in the balance.

The hosts began to drop deeper and deeper inside their own half, and were punished for a second time having again failed to do their jobs when defending a corner, allowing Tyler French the opportunity to help Wodskou’s header past Mark Oxley.

Yet, just moments after being pegged back, Town went 3-2 up when Ciaran McGuckin diverted fellow substitute George Thomson’s 84th-minute free-kick beyond the wrong-footed Metcalfe.

Almost immediately, the Sulphurites switched off again at a set-piece, leaving Scott High unattended to send a completely free header narrowly past the upright.

The see-saw nature of the contest continued and Harrogate went straight back down the other end where Thomson curled just wide on his left foot before Shawn McCoulsky forced a superb diving save out of Metcalfe.

The points were then made safe on 90 minutes as a swift raid saw Thomson pick out McGuckin with an intelligent crossfield pass, and the ex-Rotherham United striker cut inside from the left to bend a clinical low finish into the bottom corner.

And there was still time for Town to make it five through Rohan Vaughan, who crashed home from close range at the second attempt after Solihull floundered again at a corner.