NEAL’S DAY OF PAIN & GAIN
IN-PAIN gaffer Neal Ardley got a timely pick-me-up from his Solihull Moors in midweek having defied doctor’s orders to be there.
The former AFC Wimbledon and Notts County boss travelled more than 100 miles less than 24 hours after hip surgery at Guy’s Hospital, London, to take in Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Torquay United in the National League.
Determined to make the match following the operation on Monday afternoon, 49-yearold Ardley tasked his wife with the driving after his discharge on Tuesday morning so he could sit on the sidelines while right-hand man James Quinn directed operations.
It turned out to be just the tonic with Moors dominating and looking comfortable thanks to goals from Andrew Dallas and Joe Sbarra. Torquay substitute Klaidi Lolos threw the cat amongst the pigeons with an opportunistic sweep home following a long throw with ten minutes to play and despite a late penalty shout, Solihull saw through the win without any other scares, a blessing for Ardley who admitted he had been in no position to get agitated. “It was tough,” he told The NLP while standing with the aid of crutches.
“I was in a bit of pain and still a bit groggy. I had got my wife to drive me up because I did not want to miss the game, she knew my mind had been set on it even if she did not think it would be achievable.
Morphine
“I was high on morphine the previous night but my mind was on getting discharged early to be here. It all worked out but I am not sure the hospital would be too happy to discover where I was!
“It was not easy and sitting there knowing I could not make any sharp movements was tough, knowing I would be in a lot of pain if I did.
“I let Quinny do the running around and shouting and that helped, I sat there knowing it was not my job to be leading from the side.”
Ardley confirmed he had not discharged himself in order to be there but “rushed it along” to get out in time to witness ambitious Solihull bag a first home win of the season at the fourth attempt, backing up victory at Aldershot Town three days earlier.
“It is great to get back-toback wins,” he added.
“We didn’t get what we deserved from the first three games, we were miles better than the results showed and you hope that it comes through eventually for the peace of mind and confidence of the players as much as anything else.
“Going back-to-back will hopefully give them that lift and they will be ready to go again with the matches coming thick and fast. It is Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday again this week so it is good to be heading into that with some momentum.”