There was a nice story to emerge from the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central on Tuesday evening.
With regular first choice goalkeeper, Charlie Price, ruled out through injury, Stourbridge called upon goalkeeping coach, Lewis Solly, to don the gloves for his first competitive outing in over a year and just weeks before his 40th Birthday.
Like all good stories, it had a happy ending for the Glassboys as the veteran shot-stopper kept a clean sheet to help his side secure a 2-0 victory over St. Ives Town.
“It was great to get back on the pitch again,” Solly told us. “The last time I played competitively was in the Birmingham Senior Cup in November 2022, as for my last League game, it was a while ago!
“Defensively the team put in a great performance to restrict our opponents to very few chances and it’s always nice for a ‘keeper to walk off the pitch at the end having kept a clean sheet.
“After the disappointment of the manner of our Isuzu FA Trophy exit at Kidderminster Harriers at the weekend, it was important that we responded in the right way and we did that with our performance and three points on the night against a team that has been in good form recently.
“We’ve got games in hand over a lot of teams above us, so if we can keep adding to our tally and building momentum, we will start to climb.”
Solly first joined Stourbridge in 2005 and made over 350 appearances during an eight-year stint before returning again in 2015. He now oversees the development of the goalkeepers at the club throughout the ranks.
“There are some very talented young ‘keepers here,” he added. “We have lads in the reserves and U21s who have bright futures ahead of them if they keep working hard and learning their trade.
“They only have to look to Charlie Price for inspiration. He has been outstanding for us over the last three seasons and is consistently one of our best performers week in, week out. He has a massive influence within the dressing room and is such a popular member of the team.
“It’s a specialist position and you have to be dedicated and always willing to learn.”
The Glassboys head to Barwell on Saturday.
IMAGE: Focus Dunn Photography
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