Neal Ardley left 'gutted' at Solihull Moors FA Cup exit after 'sparkling' form of Hartlepool United's ex-Chelsea and Norwich City youngster

Ardley’s National League side gave an excellent account of themselves at the Suit Direct Stadium and can feel somewhat unfortunate it is not they who will face Harrogate Town in round two on Saturday week. And for that, Hartlepool have Killip to thank.

The goalkeeper made a number of standout saves following Ryan Barnett’s opening goal inside 10 minutes which kept Hartlepool in the tie before Reghan Tumilty grabbed an equaliser a minute from time.

With neither side able to find an elusive second goal in extra-time, the tie would be decided on penalties where Killip, again, would prove a thorn in Ardley’s side when saving from Josh Kelly as Joe Grey sealed a 4-3 success for the hosts in the shootout.

“I’m absolutely gutted,” said Ardley following the defeat.

“To be fair, at half-time, I thought we should have been two or three up. Second half I counted and their goalie must have made four or five one-v-one saves where we’re clear through and they’ve had probably three or four reasonable chances and scored with near enough the last kick of the game.

“It’s the FA Cup, that’s what it does to you. We’ll try and focus on the performance and by and large we were the better team.

“I’m adamant when I get the expected goals back it’s going to be so one sided, but their goalie was in sparkling form. He’s kept them in the game.”

And Ardley admitted the Hartlepool staff conceded they had been indebted to Killip’s heroics for their progression into the next round after the two teams could not be separated over the course of 210 minutes of football with two entertaining draws.

“Their coach came up to me afterwards and said ‘we’ve dodged a bullet there’ but it is what it is. It’s the FA Cup,” said Ardley.

“They kept going. 1-0 is a precarious scoreline if you don’t put a team to bed.”

Hartlepool will now face Harrogate in round two of the FA Cup on Saturday, November 26.