Church extended their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions, but it was debatable as to whether one was pleased or disappointed at the end of a topsy turvy game.

Church were distinctly second best in a first half that saw the hosts carve out a one goal lead; and it could have been worse but for a smart save from Redman Evans, one on one, near the end of the half.

Church looked a different proposition in the second forty-five and commendably turned the game completely round to lead with just over twenty minutes remaining, but pressure told six minutes from the end of normal time when Anstey equalised from a set piece that all will feel could have been better defended.

The two sides exchanged half chances in the opening skirmishes. Ilesanmi offered an angled drive on 2 minutes that was always rising over the bar, and the home side responded with Tonge firing across Evans and wide of the far post after the ball had been smuggled up the pitch.

Church created the best opening to date on 24 minutes when Osborne slalomed through two challenges and drives inches wide of the foot of the post; the keeper a spectator, fully expecting the net to ripple one suspects.

An unchallenged header from Crowther at the far post as he met a corner should have led to a different outcome than a straightforward block on the line.

A Perry drive from just outside the box on 39 minutes looks destined for the corner of the net but is blocked well in a crowded box.

The home side were also well at it though, and were robustly delivering the ball into the Church defensive third at will. Balls delivered from wide were prime concern for Church, who to this point, three minutes before half time, had defended strongly. But it would not last until the break; Wauchope makes ground down the left, and getting to the by-line, whips a ball into the heart of the Church six yard box, and the ball is turned in from close range, in similar fashion to the last goal Church had conceded in the FA Cup tie against Racing Club Warwick.

It could have been much worse before the half was out as the home side relentlessly descended on the Church goal. Quick feet from the home side had seen Bastos through on goal, faced only with Evans as a final hurdle, but the Church number one made himself big to save with his feet and repel the danger. The significance of this block, keeping the half time deficit at only one cannot be ignored.

Half Time : Anstey Nomads 1 Alvechurch 0

The half time change of Clayton-Phillips for Ilesanmi seemed to give Church more composure on the ball, and the tide of the game turned most markedly in the second half.

On 64 minutes excellent play by Okafor down the right flank and to the by-line allows him to deliver the ball right in front of goal, but Clayton-Phillips’ connection is too flat to seriously trouble Clarkson in the home goal, and the Anstey man is grateful that the ball is close enough to him to gather.

But this was just a prelude to five minutes of drama that turned the game on its head.
A minute after the Clayton-Phillips chance Church were level. Osborne stands over a free kick twenty-five yards our, and sweeps the ball over the wall and into the bottom left hand corner of the net off the inside of the post. An excellent strike of absolute precision.

Just four minutes later with Church now on top, Okafor chases down a through ball, bearing down on Clarkson, and his challenge sees the ball cannon off the keeper and into midfield space where Sullivan is on hand to deliver the ball with precision, over the stranded keeper and into the empty net from thirty yards.

What a turnaround!

Inevitably Anstey turn up the heat in the remining time.
Church survive a series of corners, with subsequent shots being blocked in the box as the rearguard action kicks in.
On 84 minutes a free kick from the corner of the box is palmed away by Evans under pressure to concede a corner. But as the ball is delivered in it is flicked into the far corner, unchallenged to level the scores once more.

Church survive late pressure, but the result was about more than that. Church had not played their strongest game in the first half, but reverting to type in the second they found their mojo. The late equaliser for Anstey was a kick in the teeth, but overall, a good point in a feisty game, at a difficult venue.