PATIENCE IS KEY TO HOT STREAK
BY THE time Andrew Dallas had scored his eighth goal in two matches most had forgotten about the threemonth dry spell before that.
But it wasn’t lost on the highly-rated Solihull Moors striker that he was beginning to see the rewards for his hard work and persistence.
Three weeks on from his hat-trick against Southport and the incredible five he put past Dover Athletic, the 22-year-old had scored 11 in his last four matches ahead of yesterday’s game at Yeovil Town.
Dallas’ goals have strengthened Solihull’s promotion credentials and justified his belief that his form would return.
“That’s the life of a striker, all of a sudden they start going in one after another,” he told The NLP. “I was on the goalline getting tap-ins, a week after getting a hattrick, thinking, ‘Where were they when I was going three months without a goal?’ It sums it up.”
Involved
Dallas had started the season with three in his first five but until the hat-trick at Southport, he hadn’t scored since September.
“I was training as hard as I could, you’ve just got to keep going and keep believing that all the work you’re putting in at some point it’s going to click,” said the Scotsman. “I was assisting and involved in a lot of good play. The manager and the coaching staff were happy with how involved I was in the games but, as a striker, if you’re not scoring you’re thinking I’m not playing well.”
The goalscoring form of midfielder Joe Sbarra coupled with the most clean sheets in the division took the focus off a mis-firing front line which also includes John Rooney, Kyle Hudlin and Danny Newton.
Now, though, Dallas and his strike partners are beginning to find the net regularly which has helped them to six wins from their last nine league games.
Solihull’s ambition is part of the reason Dallas signed for the club in the summer. He had penned a new deal at Cambridge United but Moors were prepared to pay a fee having seen him impress at Weymouth last season where he scored 12 in 25 games.
After the
U’s won promotion to
League One, his minutes were likely to be sparse and a move away to play more matches was a decision he was prepared to make. Dallas is no stranger to making tough calls, having left his hometown Glasgow, where he played for Rangers, at 19.
“I jumped into it at the time and thought of it as an adventure,” he said. “Everything I try to do is channelling into what I do on the pitch. What I’m buying in the shops is down to me. I’ve tried to branch out with cooking. I was getting into Tofu and squid and stuff. I’ve had a few nightmares but I’ve not given myself food poisoning yet!”
Dallas, whose family are all Rangers supporters, was named on the bench for the Scottish Premier League giants several times under then-manager Steven Gerrard.
Proud
“It was quite mad going to training the first time and he was your manager,” said Dallas, who had impressed for the Rangers development side. “It was a proud moment but you can’t hang on to being a Rangers fan, you’ve got to make the hard choice, going to England where you don’t know anyone.
“At Cambridge, I was getting on the bus to away games not knowing where I was going to.
“I didn’t know about the National League either and it’s the same for my family but they’ve bought into it. My uncle came down for the Dover game and my grandad will be talking about King’s Lynn’s form when he would never have been having those conversations before.
“I feel like I’m working towards something and hopefully it’s all worth it in the end.”