Ardley said he was “surprised” to be confronted by a staunch 5-4-1 Solihull set-up at Meadow Lane on Tuesday night, which forced his Magpies side to rethink their game plan and dig deeper for the points.
And it took a moment of magic from Enzio Boldewijn to open up the Moors’ defence 11 minutes from time when he turned and skipped past two markers to unselfishly hand Kyle Wootton his eighth goal of the season.
Top scorer Wootton put the game to bed with a second three minutes from time following another fine piece of skill from Ruben Rodrigues.
“I thought we’d be a bit more open, I thought they’d come and have a go at us and try and dominate possession because that’s what they do,” Ardley said.
“The players were getting a little bit frustrated just before half-time and forcing things so I just told them they had to be patient.
“But when we got into that final third, we just had to take more risks. Have more one-v-one domination, more crosses, more people on the move, and not be safe once we get there. And I thought we did that a little bit more in the second half.
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