IT’S ALL IN THE LIFE OF RYLEY
TEENAGE striker Kian Ryley showed his elders a thing or two after claiming the manof-the-match award on his Solihull Moors debut in the 2-0 FA Trophy defeat of AFC Telford United.
And boss Neal Ardley admitted he was more than happy to throw his young guns into the mix when they were ready, something he learnt when managing AFC Wimbledon in the Football League.
Ryley impressed and was unlucky not to be on the scoresheet on a memorable evening for the 17-year-old while another of the club’s academy prospects Finn Howell was on the bench for the Trophy tie.
Ardley said: “We have had a few lads including Kian and Finn who have stepped up and trained with us for a couple of weeks and have done really well.
“I had it at Wimbledon once when they asked me if I needed a loan player when we had a centre half injured and I said no because I had seen young Will Nightingale mark [Adebayo] Akinfenwa for two months in training and that’s all I needed to see to know that he would be ready.
“Kian has trained with the first team boys and hasn’t looked out of place so I knew he could come into the side as long as he could handle his nerves and he did great.
“He could have had a couple of goals, one saved and another which he put wide so it was great for him and hopefully shows the others that have been training with us that this is a team that, when you are ready, you will get your chance. This competition gives us a good chance to blood them in.”
Hectic
And while Solihull’s teenagers might well get another chance to shine when Moors host Barnet in the FA Trophy fourth round on January 14, they might also be needed during a hectic few months for the Armco Arena outfit. Ardley added: “January and February are going to be ridiculously tough with the amount of rearranged fixtures we have. We could really do with having a full squad to be fit for those games to get through it. “During that period we will probably have 16 games and where we are at the end of those two months will define where we are at come May.”