Moors skipper is planning to put his foot on the Gaz

FOOTBALL friendship will transi- tion into no-holds-barred rivalry when Solihull Moors renew their acquaintances with Brackley Town for the first time in a decade today.

- By COLIN STONER

Respective captains Jamey Osborne and Gaz Dean will be no strangers when they head out onto the Damson Park pitch for the tossup - and were even travel colleagues on a stag-do to Portugal for a onetime teammate last summer.

But with Moors looking to exorcise their recent struggles on home soil, and Brackley aiming to extend an unbeaten four-match run, there will be no old pals' act for their first-ever meeting in the National League.

Not even with the Saints having four other players alongside Dean - plus manager Gavin Cowan with Moors connections.

Dean, Cowan and Michael Nottingham were all part of the squad under Marcus Bignot which lifted the National League North title in 2016 - when they completed a double over Brackley - and Town also include Kyle Morrison, Justin Donawa and Connor Hall, who have been on the Moors books in the last few seasons.

Playmaker Osborne and Dean, who has now played nearly 500 games for Brackley, and Morrison, who left Moors last term, have already started the banter.

"We've been in touch during the week and we'll have a catch-up after the game," said Osborne. "We'll say 'hello' before kickoff and then say 'well done' afterwards and probably have a beer. It'll be all guns going for the 90 minutes in between.

"I'm sure both teams are looking forward to it. There will be a lot of familiar faces but they are friends as well, not just previous teammates. I'm looking forward to the game, as I’m sure they are.