Alvechurch v Stourbridge

Tuesday, 18th September - kick-off 7-45 pm
ALVECHURCH v STOURBRIDGE
Evo-stik League South Premier Division Central

GROUND ADDRESS
Lye Meadow, 53 Redditch Road Alvechurch, Worcs. B48 7RS

Exit the M42 at Junction 2 – Turn right at the top to take A441 dual carriageway signposted for Redditch.

At the first island, turn right (signposted B4120 Alvechurch) to head back in the direction of the village.

The Ground is located approx 1 mile along here on the right hand side.

Note - The Car park entrance on the right is just before ground, so look out for the entrance!

Journey time is approx. 35-40 minutes

ALVECHURCH can also be reached by train as the Cross City line operates through Birmingham New Street and on to Redditch via Alvechurch.

Lye Meadow is a 20 minute or so walk via Bear Hill from the railway station.

Trains run from Alvechurch to Birmingham New Street after the game at 22.02 and 22.32 and get into Birmingham at 22.33 and 23.03 respectively.

Admission Prices :
Adults - £10
Senior Concessions (65+) - £7
Juniors (13-17) / Students (with ID card) - £5
Children U13 - FREE (with a paying adult or concession)

PROGRAMME - Alvechurch are another club to have decided to produce an online issue and Tuesday's programme is now available to download via their club website - see http://www.alvechurchfc.club/a/match-day-programmes-20725.html

Stourbridge will wear their red and white striped shirts at Alvechurch.

MATCH PREVIEW

The Glassboys hope to welcome back Luke Benbow for Tuesday evening's re-arranged league encounter at Alvechurch.

The match was originally scheduled for August 25th, but a new date had to be found as Alvechurch were required to take part in the Preliminary Round of the F A Cup.

The home side have a number of former Glassboys in their ranks. Danny O'Callaghan and Aaron Birch, who were in the Stour fold for some of the first half of last season, are both now at Lye Meadow having made summer moves from Sutton Coldfield Town. Talented midfielder Tom Turton continues to impress for 'Church, while going back a little further, striker Aaron Lloyd and goalkeeper Paul Evans have also featured under Gary Hackett for us in the past.

Alvechurch have enjoyed three excellent seasons under Ian long, Having finished as runners-up to Hereford FC in the MFL Premier Division in 2015/16, they went a step further a year later, landing the league title to win promotion to the NPL Division One South. They were again amongst the frontrunners and despite falling a little behind with fixtures at one stage, a strong run of results ensured they were soon back in the promotion mix. Whilst Basford United raced away to the title, Alvechurch were able to benefit from a three-point deduction incurred by Frickley Athletic which enabled them to seal second spot and a second successive promotion with a game to go. They were subsequently placed in the newly created Premier Division Central Division overseen by the Southern League.

While Stourbridge are currently 4th with 12 points from 7 games, Alvechurch sit 11th with 9 points from six games, having won 2, drawn 3 and lost 1 in the league to date. Their home form has been good. An opening day goal-less against Royston Town at Lye Meadow has since been followed by 3 - 0 wins over both Redditch United and Needham Market.

They have also seen off Bromsgrove Sporting at home and Stratford Town away in the F A Cup so far.

Alvechurch have also already landed some silverware this season as they marked their return to the Worcestershire Senior Cup competition by lifting the trophy in late July following a 3 - 1 victory over Redditch United in the Final played at Evesham.

Lye Meadow will be a familiar venue for many supporters as it is a ground we have visited on many occasions, particularly around the late seventies and early eighties. More recently we have met Alvechurch at Lye Meadow in pre-season friendlies.

Our last visit for a competitive meeting was in the 2013/14 season when we faced Alvechurch in the Birmingham Senior Cup 1st Round and we triumphed 2 - 0 on that occasion with goals coming from Luke Benbow and Ben Billingham.

Last season we hosted Alvechurch in the Integro League Cup First Round at the War Memorial Athletic Ground and despite at that stage being a league below the Glassboys, 'Church raced into a four-goal lead with little over half-an-hour played. Luke Benbow pulled two goals back in quick succession to hint at a most unlikely turnaround, but the visitors held out to record a fine win.

There is one other league game on Tuesday evening with Bedworth United taking on Banbury United. This is another match rescheduled from August 25th.

MATCH REPORT FROM LAST NOVEMBER

Despite playing a league below us, Alvechurch scored four times in the opening 32 minutes and a second-half double from Luke Benbow just wasn’t enough for Stour.

Alvechurch got off to the ideal start as Stour were caught napping just 30 seconds into the game.

Babucar Sauane showed strength to get behind skipper Paul McCone, he poked the ball past Matt Gould and with the onrushing keeper committed, the striker was brought down.

Former Glassboy Tom Turton stepped up and gave Gould, who was shown a yellow card, no chance from the spot.

The returning Jack Duggan had to be at full stretch to clear a Yusifu Ceesay cross behind but Church doubled their lead from the resulting corner.

Turton delivered his ball towards the near post, Andrew Parsons found a yard of space and his low header just creeped into the net in the 16th minute.

It went from bad to worse for Stour. Ben Tilbury went on a brilliant surging run into the penalty area, hit the post with a low effort before Nathaniel Waite gladly tapped the rebound home in the 23rd minute.

There was still time for another Church goal in the first half, however, as Mitch Botfield headed over Gould from a good McCauley Manning's cross just after the half hour mark.

Boss Gary Hackett brought Leon Broadhurst and youngster Alex Cameron on for Aaron Birch and Josh Cooke at the break.

Benbow scored his first goal back in Stourbridge colours in the 57th minute as his 25-yard free-kick squirmed underneath Alvechurch keeper Jasmin Keranovic.

Stour started to grow in confidence and Benbow grabbed his second in the 64th minute. He was brought down just inside the penalty area by Manning and fired the spot kick into the bottom left corner.

Young defender James Timmins came on for his first team debut with a quarter of an hour left, replacing Josh Green at left-back.

Aaron Forde came close to getting a third for Stour, seeing his 35-yard thunderbolt crash back off the crossbar.

His brilliant ball in three minutes from time then found Aris Christophorou at the back post but the full-back’s free header was straight at Keranovic.

The Glassboys dominated the second half but couldn’t quite find a third goal to make the final minutes interesting and bow out of the Integro League Cup at the First Round stage.