That F.C Reedswood would eventually emerge victoriously from this pre-season friendly against a gritty and determined Solihull Ladies would not have surprised many. Their dominance of a match played out in warm conditions at East Park (Wolverhampton) on Aug 26th was not quite reflected in the final 3-2 scoreline. For large periods they looked more hungry and dangerous and the more likely to capitalise on their opponents errors. However, for all the chances that the 'ladies in red' created it has to be said that it was a below par performance. Reedswood certainly didn't pass the ball as well as they are able and at times looked a little uncomfortable with the 3-5-2 formation that they were playing for the second match in succession. Solihull certainly provided a sterner test than Reedswood's previous opponents and had it not been for a somewhat lacklustre display up-front they may well have left more of an impression on the final scoreline. Still, Reedswood's managers will take some positives away from the game. Striker Marie Jarvis was looking sharp and was unlucky not find the back of the net on two occasions. Despite not firing on all cylinders the team were still able to create chances. Katie Moore's excellently taken goal, a sweet right foot shot from the edge of the box that found the corner of the net, capped a solid display that suggested that there is much more to come from the talented youngster. The defence were solid despite occasionally being over-run and the combination of captain Leanne Edwards, Yvette Barker and Zoe Burgess worked well together. Burgess was particularly commanding prior to the knee injury that she suffered midway through the second half and that will probably cause her to miss the first two or three matches of the season. As so often happens, a player's injury galvanises a team and it was as true for Reedswood as it could be when shortly after Burgess' withdrawal midfielder Becky Allsop was able to out-leap the opposition defence to place a well guided header into the roof of the net. Another bonus came when substitutes Sarah Ponsford and Yvonne Law, brought on with around 15mins left to play, combined cleverly to set up Law's first goal since returning from injury - under pressure from defenders and keeper, Law was able to pounce onto Ponsford's sweet through-ball to convert a cool left footed drive into the bottom right corner. By the time that Solihull scored what was a highly questionable second goal (huge suspicions of handball) a thoroughly entertaining game was virtually all over. The season awaits!