Aldershot Town fell to an emphatic 5-1 defeat at home to Solihull Moors in the National League.

Solihull’s Joe Sbarra scored a first-half double, either side of a Conor Wilkinson flick and Alex Whitmore header to round off a difficult first half for the Shots.

Second half-substitute Manny Sonupe finished from close range to score Solihull’s fifth, with the Shots scoring late on despite playing the final 20 minutes with ten men as Josh Barrett scored from close range.

Aldershot found themselves having to respond to an early opener from the away side, with Sbarra finding the left-hand corner to give Solihull the lead six minutes in.

Captain Ryan Hill was on hand to stop a threatening attack from the away side three minutes later, before the Shots were able to create their first chance of the game in the 11th minute.

After the ball was moved around nicely it was eventually set across for Matt Penney to strike a first-time volley, although his effort inside the Solihull penalty area was off target.

The first half was a little bit stop-start, with players on both sides requiring medical treatment.

Shots boss John Coleman was forced into an early change, with Penney unable to recover from his injury and replaced by Ryan Jones on the left-hand side.

Aldershot enjoyed a spell of pressure midway through the first half, with Barrett seeing two efforts blocked before Jones’ low strike in the 34th minute was blocked by the away side.

Despite these chances, Solihull were able to score their second with just over five minutes left of the first half, with a low Jacob Wakeling effort deflecting off Wilkinson to loop past Shots keeper Coniah Boyce-Clarke.

Town’s first half got even worse just before the end of the first 45, with Whitmore heading home from a corner to make it 3-0.

There was one more chance for the Shots in the ten minutes of added time, as Barrett fired an effort inside the Solihull penalty area over the bar, before Sbarra got a late fourth goal for the away side, leaving the Shots with work to do in the second half.

The second half was always going to be a tricky one for the Shots, but they were able to create a number of chances to get on the scoresheet, with Christy Grogan and Jones seeing efforts blocked and saved in the 53rd minute.

Second-half substitute Hady Ghandour also saw a header go just over the bar just past the hour mark, but the Shots found themselves further behind when Solihull substitute Sonupe scored his side’s fifth in the 68th minute.

With just under 20 minutes to go, Aldershot had to play with a man disadvantage, after Grogan was initially given a yellow card for what referee Aaron Farmer deemed was a foul, before receiving his second yellow shortly afterwards for showing his discontent with the decision.

However, the Shots were able to get themselves a late consolation as Barrett poked home a flicked effort from close range in the 84th minute to make it 5-1.

The Shots will look to dust themselves off and get back to winning ways when they travel to fellow Hampshire side Eastleigh in their next National League fixture on Saturday, January 17 (3pm kick-off).