Alvechurch arrived in Shropshire ahead of their penultimate away fixture of the 2025/2026 season as they faced off against third-placed Shifnal Town Ladies. The two last met in January as the Church progressed into the quarter-final stage of the League Cup for the first time in their history after a fantastic and thrilling 3-3 draw at The Hayes. That day, probably Church' best performance to this date still after a complete 90-minutes performance. On the day, we went ahead three times, we couldn't hold on but showcased their character to be able to compete when they are on it. The Church went on to win on penalties.

Flash forward a few months later, and for Church, it was about letting go off any pressure that they may still have felt. Relegation was officially confirmed last week for the visiting side and now had the chance to really show what they are looking to build for the future ahead of a bright 2026/2027 season incoming next year. The building blocks, the foundations being laid right now, what the next steps are, and how they look to bounce straight back.

MATCH REPORT:
On a beautiful day for football at the Acoustafoam Stadium, Chris' side got us underway for game number one of three left to play this season. The away side didn't quite get to grips early on with loose passes, and not really following the instructions set out to them beforehand, the struggling beginning to proceedings ultimately ended in an opening goal early on.

In the 14th minute, Town took the lead. After being dragged down 25 yards from goal, Tayler Davies stepped up from the resulting free-kick and hit it sweetly. The ball travelled, swerving and dipping in the air, before striking the back of the net, leaving Fortner with no chance of keeping it out and hand the hosts a lift in the early exchanges.

From that moment, it was about staying in the game for the Church and not letting their heads drop. They fought back very well though, started to become more braver, stepping up the pitch, applying more pressure to the hosts who hadn't really been troubled thus far. The first shot of the game for the away team came on 18 minutes as Maddie Miles found space in the middle of the park. Poppy Jones' driving run caused real issues for Shifnal, as she looked ready to take the effort on, she slipped it into the path of Miles. The attacking midfielder took one touch out of her feet and hit a curling effort that wasn't far away from finding the corner, but fell the wrong side of the post.

The strike seemed to lift the belief within the camp. They carried on venturing forward. Both wingers getting the better of their full-backs, and causing panic in the home ranks. Church' constant pressure after the first shot of the match did end up resulting in what felt like a deserved equaliser at the time. Really stepping up to the plate and getting shots away from range. The equaliser saw us win the first contact, guiding into Darcy Jones. The midfielder saw the ball sit up well for her, and she was optimistic, took the shot on, looping in the air before dipping at the right moment and into the net above the goalkeeper. Shifnal 1, Church 1.

The Reds then looked to wrestle back control of the contest after a long period of struggle. Credit to the Church, who were dishing out the nervous play for them, and looking dangerous as they went forward. The pressure rising for the hosts as well knowing that they are still in the hunt to try and catch the league leaders. They almost regained their advantage as well on 37 minutes as player of the match Darcy Fortner made a huge save, coming out, making herself big right in-front of goal, to make an important stop at the right time.

Right on the stroke of the half-time whistle, it looked as if the home side had re-taken the lead. The striker on the right-hand side, cut in, mishit the first effort, before wrapping her foot around it and hitting the underside of the crossbar, the ball not crossing the white-line for a fortunate escape for the away team but a bit of luck that they deserved in that moment for a hard-fought battle in that first half.

HALF-TIME: SHIFNAL TOWN 1-1 ALVECHURCH

Church' first-half performance warranting the deserved score-line that they took into the interval. The question begging now was could they keep up the same energy levels heading into the second period?

30 seconds into the second half and Fortner was called into action making one of the saves of the season in our opinion. A shot on the edge of the box looked destined to land in the far corner, but our goalkeeper got across, got her arm up at the right time, and managed to tip the shot around the right-hand post. A wonderful save, one that kept that needed to awaken the Church.

Seven minutes after the restart, the side from Worcestershire had a massive chance to take the lead! The opposition goalkeeper ran out to clear the ball, miscued the clearance, and it allowed the ball to drop for Jessica Heger. The forward had an open goal on the edge of the box, with the keeper in no man's land. The ball got trapped under her feet, but managed to shift it quickly, whipping the strike towards goal. The shot looked to be creeping in, moving in slow motion, but it went inches wide of the right-hand post to deny us!

Four minutes later, we continued our stride to try and turn the tide into our favour. We won a free-kick in the middle of the pitch following some brilliant work from Lara O'Brien to win back possession. Miles stepped up to whip the ball into the mixer. She delivered a superb cross into the area for her team-mates to go attack. The on-rushing Megan Gates came crashing in to get her head on the ball, however the header went just wide! It felt like it was coming for the visitors.

Our high pressure was starting to really set a few nerves across the ground as the title hopes hanged in the balance. On 62 minutes, we nearly and probably should have got our noses in-front again! It felt like Deja Vu in this scenario. Miles again had the chance to cause more issues for the Shifnal defence from another free-kick opportunity. In virtually the same position as the last one, the midfielder was able to produce another wonderful cross into the box and Annabel Stark was inches away from getting a touch on the ball to divert it into the net. She was about a toe away from the ball!

Not taking chances can often lead to danger of conceding at the other end. This time, a really, really unfortunate moment. As our goalkeeper went to take her goal-kick, she lost her footing allowing the ball to fall straight to the attacker. She set the ball for Rebecca Lee-Brown, and she put her laces through the ball, and Fortner almost recovered to make a brilliant save, but lost hold of the ball, seeing it squeeze in off the post and the players really feeling for her in that instance after such a super performance to this point.

The chaos begun again from that instance for Church. Three minutes later, Shifnal started to step it up a gear and look to kill off any hopes of Alvechurch finding a way back into the game. Having lost the duel on the left-hand side closest to the halfway line, the home team picked up the second ball, driving forward with purpose. The winger drove into the area, before slipping, and the referee deemed it to be a tangle of legs, resulting in a penalty kick. From the spot, Davies saw her effort come off the inside of the post, hit the back of Fortner, and land into the back of the net to make it 3-1. Another huge slice of fortune for the Reds.

As said, the heat was turned up on Church from there on in. With 19 minutes left on the clock, it felt like time was ebbing away ever so slowly. From the edge of the box, another fantastic save from Fortner denied the hosts a fourth as she was able to tip an effort over the bar. From the resulting corner, an in-swinging delivery was landed right on top of our defence, and the ball was headed home from 3 yards by Coleen Johnson to wrap up all three points.

Shifnal made it a five-star display with just four minutes remaining. A short throwing on the side next to the dug-outs was thrown in, Chris' side switched off allowing the winger to cut inside from the right, slot it into the path of Davies. Davies looking to add a third to her name and a fifth for her side. She had too much time and space to pick her spot on the edge of the 18-yard area. She took her time, composed, slotting it into the top right-hand corner to complete the route in the end and really make the score-line look far more comfortable than it really was.

FULL-TIME: SHIFNAL TOWN 5-1 ALVECHURCH