YORK City fell to a fourth consecutive defeat at the hands of an out-of-form Solihull Moors, seeing the Minstermen remain just four points adrift of the Vanarama National League relegation zone.

Prior to kick-off, Solihull Moors were just one of four teams beneath York City in the form table for their last ten matches, accumulating just six points out of a possible 30, whilst York had managed 8.

But goals from Shaq Forde and Olly Dyson weren’t enough to cancel out impressive finishes from Joe Sbarra, Andrew Dallas and former York striker Mark Beck.

Webb handed a debut to experienced centre-back Mark Ellis, who joined the club on Monday on a loan deal until the end-of-the-season from Sky Bet League Two side Barrow.

Ellis’ introduction saw Webb change formations by switching to a five at the back system, integrating his new addition alongside Maxim Kouogun and Fraser Kerr.

Solihull started the game by trying to take control of possession and nearly found an early breakthrough, as Tom Whelan’s deep corner was met by the head of Callum Howe, whose header nestled onto the roof of the net.

Ryan Barnett was proving to be a tense player for the York defence to deal with, and nearly carved open a chance when cruising past Alex Whittle before delivering to the back post, but Joe Sbarra couldn’t divert an effort on goal.

But the Moors’ biggest chance of the first half would fall to Beck.

A short-corner routine was fired into the box by Ben Coker, allowing Beck to volley narrowly wide of the target.

Sbarra was the first to sting the gloves of Ethan Ross as he feinted into a glimmer of space, but his long-ranged effort was comfortably dealt with.

But with Solihull dominating and looking likely to capitalise on a poor game of football, York reversed the odds.

A lovely one-two involving Olly Dyson and Ryan Fallowfield allowed the latter to burst down the line, before cutting the ball back into the path of Forde, who showed composure to tuck the ball past Ryan Boot.

Forde was now looking to add his sixth of the season in his first campaign playing in professional football.

And he nearly had his chance not long later, as a poor clearance from Mitchell Roberts deflected off of Hancox and into the path of Forde, but his low strike was smothered by Boot.

Boot was tested again just a minute later, with another failed clearance bundling into the path of Hancox, but his strike couldn’t generate the power to beat Boot.

Heading into the second half, Forde was once again involved in the thick of the action. The Watford loanee expertly controlled the ball before driving towards the Solihull defence, slipping Alex Whittle in behind but the defender’s final touch was cut out by James Clarke.

But again, it would be frustrations for a Solihull side in desperate need for confidence, and it showed in Dallas’ miss.

A lovely chipped cross from Clarke found an unmarked Dallas at the back post, and being practically stood on the line, the Scottish striker somehow blazed his effort over the bar to the disbelief of the West Midlands side.

But the miss would quickly be forgotten, as Solihull stunned York with two goals in two minutes.

Barnett delivered a trademark cross into the box onto the head of the beckoning Beck, who nodded the ball into the path of Sbarra, allowing the tricky midfielder to slam the ball past the outstretched Ross and into the net.

And less than sixty second later, it was a second for the Moors.

A break influenced by Sbarra again, as he latched onto Beck’s flick and raced through on goal, before calmly squaring intio Dallas who made up for his earlier by hammering the ball between Ross’ legs.

However, the goals streaming in weren’t done there, as less than six minutes later, York drew the scores level.

A long ball from Ellis fell perfectly onto the head of John-Lewis, whose pinpoint flick fell into the path of Dyson to smash the ball into the bottom right corner.

Strangely enough, Dyson was substituted off of the pitch for Manny Duku before play could even restart.

York looked to have a newfound energy in them, and Forde was spearheading it from midfield, where he had slotted in to accommodate a front-two of Duku and John-Lewis.

But as Forde won the ball back and ferociously drove forward, his venomous effort was somehow parried over the bar by Boot.

City’s hardwork can be appreciated and applauded, but at the end of the day it’s goals that win games.

And with less than ten minutes remaining, Solihull reinstated their lead.

A teasing corner from Jamey Osborne was powerfully headed home by former York striker Beck, who had now netted his first goal for the Moors.

York’s formation towards the end became almost impossible to understand, with Kouogun playing in midfield, Ollie Tanner and Alex Hurst as wing-backs and players even at one point asking Webb where they were supposed to be playing.

And this was summed up in stoppage time, as a hopeless Solihull clearance fell to Josh Kelly with acres of space before his low switching ball found Osborne, but his shot lacked the power to challenge Ross.

York are now 18th in the National League table, and just four points clear of the drop zone.

York City: Ross 5, Fallowfield 6 (Tanner, 87), Kouogun 6, Ellis 6, Kerr 6, Whittle 5 (Hurst, 87), Dyson 7 (Duku 6, 68), Pybus 6, Hancox 7, John-Lewis 7, Forde 8

Subs not used: Whitley, McLaughlin

Goals: Forde (25), Dyson (68)

Yellow cards: Hancox (33)

Solihull Moors: Boot 6, Clarke 6, Howe 7, Roberts 6 (Donawa 6, 66), Coker 7, Sbarra 8 (Osborne, 75), Maycock 6, Whelan 6, Barnett 7, Beck 7, Dallas 7 (Kelly 6, 75)

Subs not used: Davis, Cybulski

Goals: Sbarra (61), Dallas (62) Beck (82)

York’s star man: Shaq Forde. A good effort from the Watford loanee, who netted the opener and was a crucial way to how City setup.

Referee: Scott Jackson

Attendance: 3605 (68)

Shots (on target): 2 (5) | 4 (5)

Corners: 2 | 5

Offsides: 1 | 0

Fouls: 11 | 3