On a beautiful night for football, the sun beaming down and the conditions all set for the cup final. For Tim Flowers' men, it was the second year in a row that they had reached the last two of the Worcestershire Senior Cup and looking to retain their crown after winning the 2024 final on penalties against Evesham United.

Church' run to the final saw them sweep past the runners-up from the 2024 final, Evesham United in the first round. At the time, James Fry' troops secured a comfortable 1-0 victory thanks to Omari Sterling-James' strike in the 9th minute of the contest and that was enough to split the two sides. In the quarter-finals, they welcomed league rivals Stourbridge to Lye Meadow. After looking on course to crash out of the competition early, 2-0 down at the 55th minute mark, Shay Willock stepped in to rescue the Church. His two goals completed the comeback before we ran out 5-3 winners on penalties.

The win over the Glassboys meant that we would travel over to the UK Electrical Stadium for the second time in the 24/25 season as we faced off against Tim Flowers' old employers. He was looking to make it a treble on his return to his old stomping ground having secured a 2-0 win earlier in his tenure with Alvechurch but also won with Redditch United back in September. So, he was looking for his own treble. He got his wish as Archie Crowther's header secured passage into back-to-back finals.

Having now beaten Bromsgrove Sporting, we awaited the winners of Worcester City or Worcester Raiders. A feisty derby day saw City come out on top to secure a 2-0 win on the night and set up tonight's cup final.

HOW IT UNFOLDED:
The two sides were set, primed and raring to go for the final. Worcester looking to become the all-time leading club of this trophy whilst Alvechurch trying to retain it and win it for just the sixth time in our history. For finals, they normally start slowly as teams settle into their strides and work each other out. But not this one...

As early as eight minutes, City snatched the lead. The ball was worked nicely before being switched out wide to Logan Stoddart. The full-back brought it into his stride, tried to work an opening for the shot. Instead, he set it back for Felix Miles, who took it under control, shifted it out of his feet and smashed it low into the bottom left-hand corner leaving Hollingshead helpless, breaking the deadlock in the process for the home side.

Time for us to show our character now and try to turn the situation around. On 12 minutes, Church registered their first attempt on target. Dan Sweeney, returning to the XI, took the ball down via his chest before volleying a spectacular effort towards goal from 30 yards out. The shot was dipping and swerving but the goalkeeper did well to shuffle his feet and make the save.

Moments later, we had a heart in mouth moment as we attempted to roll the ball back to our number one to recycle the play. Worcester sniffed out the danger but the ball just about had enough weight and purchase on it to allow Hollingshead to clear it to safety, had it been an inch slower, City would have had the perfect chance to grab a two-goal lead.

EQUALISER!!!

Church on terms. Brad Stretton picked up the pieces following a turnover in possession. He picked out Ethan Sephton on the left-hand channel, who in-turn gave the ball to Ammar Dyer. The full-back turned winger tonight drove at the heart of the defence before being brought down in a wonderful position. From the resulting free-kick, Callum Sullivan saw his effort blocked by the wall and found its way into the feet of Joe Willis, who rapped his foot around it and curled a beauty into the far corner to pull us level.

The goal seemed to spark life into the travelling side. They could smell blood and aimed to grab a second whilst they were on top of the encounter. The visitors came very close to taking the lead just three minutes after Willis' fifth goal of the campaign in all competitions. Sullivan delivered a teasing cross into the 18-yard box that allowed the goal-scorer to come on to and hit, his snap shot was brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper. On the rebound, Pearce and Sephton both tried to force it home, it was cleared as far as Willis, who fired in again but this time saw a fantastic last-ditch block deny him his second of the game.

For the remainder of the half, both sides battled, feisty challenges coming in from City, who saw bookings arrive their way. One of the challenges forced Stretton off with injury - the length of time on the side-lines remains to be seen. Whilst the other looked a dangerous tackle, but a yellow card arrived the way of the skipper.

HT: WORCESTER CITY 1-1 ALVECHURCH

A tense affair towards the end of the first-half meant that the second half was now set up nicely and evenly poised with everything to play for as both teams could etch their names into history books should they provide a winner.

It was Worcester City, who flew rapidly out of the blocks in the second period causing Flowers' men to drop deeper and deeper, not being able to get out of their own half of the pitch. On 49 minutes, Hollingshead was forced into a brilliant save down to his right-hand side following the effort on the edge of the area. He would have seen it late too due to the bodies in-front of him, so made it an even better save to deny them regaining their advantage.

But it wouldn't take long before they did eventually get their noses back in-front. Two minutes on from that effort, a silly tackle out wide to the left saw us bundle the player in blue and white to the floor resulting in a dangerous free-kick. The free-kick was whipped in and missed by everyone until it landed to the far post for Felix Miles. The midfielder, who opened the scoring for the hosts, this time turned provider. He stood the cross up from the far post allowing Zac Guinan to rise the highest and power his header past Hollingshead.

Two should have become three with Church struggling to get a grip of the game. A floated ball over the top should have been dealt with by our number one but himself and our skipper got themselves into a mix-up. Ronnie was able to get a connection on the ball to clear but the ball dropped for their number eight, who opted to shoot with the goal gaping and un-guarded. But he couldn't keep the strike down, letting us off the hook.

Not getting a foothold in the second period or managing certain areas of the contest considering our grip on the trophy was slipping away was our biggest downfall. Two did become three ten minutes after the restart. A floated ball into a dangerous area fell for Stoddart, who cushioned the ball down for Miles. The same combination for the first goal opened the door for a third. A sweet strike from 25 yards out nestled beyond the despairing dive of our Welsh international goalkeeper, who was helpless once again.

The game was slipping away, their crown also being stripped from their grasp.

After a 15-minute battering, Tim turned to the bench to introduce Willock. The hero of the quarter-final sent on to try produce a rescuing act again for the cup holders. He was straight into the thick of the action. He rose high to glance the header in behind the sleeping home defence allowing Sweeney to get there first. The ball was bouncing and our striker tried to clip it over the on-rushing goalkeeper, he successfully managed to do that but City recovered in numbers to hook it to safety.

The clock struck 76 minutes and our biggest chance to reduce the deficit arrived. Crowther pushed further up the field to try and act as another attacking option. He hung in the air and flicked the header on into the path of Sweeney. The forward brought it under control before unleashing a rocket towards the goal but the goalkeeper was quick off his line to smother the impending danger and keep the two-goal cushion intact.

But, that was that in terms of the final chances for Alvechurch, who were done on the night by a resilient, hard-working and determined Worcester City, who claimed their fourth piece of silverware in the last four years. Congratulations to them and their fans. Good luck for the remainder of the season. For Church, their attention now turns to avoiding the drop and steering themselves clear of that battle.

FT: WORCESTER CITY 3-1 ALVECHURCH