FA Trophy semi-finals: 'Huge' for Solihull to reach final says boss Andy Whing

Solihull were beaten in the National League play-off final by Grimsby Town in 2022

Andy Whing has already left his mark on Midlands football history - back in his Coventry City playing days in 2005, as the man who scored the final-ever goal at Highfield Road.

He still has the 'goal of the season' award to remind him of it, in a 6-2 home win over Derby County.

But 19 years on, as manager of National League promotion hopefuls Solihull Moors, he is approaching the end of the 2023-24 season with two good chances to add to his personal trophies and medals collection.

And both involve long 290-mile round trips to Hayes Lane, Bromley.

Moors head to Bromley in this Saturday's FA Trophy semi-final (Gateshead host Macclesfield in the other) looking to reach Wembley for the first time, before heading back to Kent seven days later to face Bromley again in a crunch meeting of third against fifth in the National League.

There is a little bit of a feeling of 'deja vu' about the make-up of three of this year's semi-finalists.

Bromley won the trophy in 2022, beating Moors along the way in the quarters, not to mention Hollywood megastars Wrexham in the final.

Gateshead were the runners-up just a year ago, losing to Halifax at Wembley.

And Northern Premier League promotion chasers Macclesfield - reformed in 2020 after being wound up in the High Court - were the first winners of the Trophy in 1970 in the club's original form, before winning it again in 1996, a year before finally winning a long-awaited promotion to the Football League.

But the only one of the four who have never been to Wembley are Moors. The club are unquestionably now the Midlands' top non-league side, having only been formed in 2007 and only made it into the fifth tier under Marcus Bignot in 2016, before suffering fifth-tier play-off final failure at West Ham's London Stadium in 2022.

"To be one step away from Wembley is huge," said Whing, who is taking one Bromley away game at a time.

"This is now a massive one for club and supporters."

Solihull Moors boss Andy Whing took over at Damson Park last June

It is not great news for Moors that they have lost on all their last four visits to Hayes Lane.

But Whing, who was only appointed as boss at Damson Park last summer following the appointment of Stephen Ward as director of football, has conjured up a real fighting spirit.

They are unbeaten away from home in 10 matches - including the quarter-final win over Wealdstone on penalties.

"To be 10 games unbeaten away from home is unbelievable," said Whing.

And Whing admits that, after showing signs of wear and tear in an overworked winless four-game run, their winning return to Wealdstone on Easter Monday has given them the perfect pick-me-up.

Experienced midfielder Jamey Osborne struck in the fifth minute of stoppage time to earn a dramatic three points, lift them a point clear of sixth-placed Gateshead and open up a precious four-point gap on seventh-placed Aldershot, with the first of the chasing pack a further two points back.

The four immediate chasing clubs all have games in hand, but Whing still sees Osborne's low, late 20-yard winner as a key moment in Moors' season.

"Opening that gap was vital for us," he said. "We can now go full throttle."

Coming on top of another late goal to draw at home to second-placed Barnet on Good Friday, it illustrates Moors' battling spirit.

"We said against Barnet we wanted a performance rather than a result and then Wealdstone was more about the result rather than the performance. Now we have to put them both together.

"We worked hard to get a point on Friday but moments like Monday's late winner are what it's all about ahead of what is a massive day for us."