Redditch United Under 19s beat a spirited Alvechurch Foundation Under 19s 3-1 at the Valley Stadium as Church remain winless in the Future Lions League.

Redditch started the game in fine-form, terrorising Alvechurch's 18-yard box, and in the first minute almost opened the scoring after their No. 5 headed wide from a corner.

The chances kept coming nonetheless for The Reds and, after knocking on the door several times, it was No. 9 who opened the scoring to make it 1-0 in the 9th minute.

Church responded positively, with a chance for Harry Chapman-Ward in the 14th minute , who narrowly placed wide.

On 21 minutes, the hosts had another opportunity to double their advantage, however, stand-in goalkeeper, Musa Jarju, made a brilliant save. Four minutes later, in the 25th minute, The Reds came hunting again for a second goal but once again Jarju denied the Redditch No. 9.

In the 34th minute, Alvechurch striker, Jake Jukes, received a yellow card from the referee for delaying the restart after an offside call.

Towards the end of the half, Redditch ended as they started, having a chance from a free-kick in the 43rd minute, but to the relief of the visitors, it was seen out.

The second-half started brightly for Alvechurch when, after some protest, an initial free-kick was overturned and awarded as a penalty kick — a golden opportunity to level the game. Jake Jukes took full advantage of the chance, and The Church were level just three minutes into the second-half.

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Unfortunately, Redditch found themselves back in front just seven minutes after Jukes’ equaliser, leaving The Church trailing once again with 35 minutes still to play.

The game became quiet and scrappy until Church had a good chance to level the scores for a second time with Jake Teji free-kick from roughly 20 yards out in the 74th minute. However, the effort lacked the power to beat the resolute Redditch keeper.

In the last 10 minutes, Church heavily pushed for an equaliser. After a well-worked move by Mo Sillah, Frankie Lines-Mullis had a shot that just went just wide of the target.

Despite the strong effort from the lads, Redditch found a third goal in the 88th minute to make it 3-1 and seal the game on home turf in the local derby.

There was positives, however, in the National League Alliance contest between Ilkeston Town and Alvechurch, our side put in a brilliant performance to seal a convincing 4-2 win away in Derbyshire. Dieter Schwarm, Niah Bell, Kaden Heath, and Korey Peets-Fearon, all found themselves on the scoresheet.

Next up for the Future Lions squad is PDA Peterborough (Kettering) at home.

For the NLA team, it’s Racing Club Warwick, also at home.