On the back of two unbeaten games, there was renewed hope and fresh optimism that Alvechurch COE DL could have a good strong finish to the campaign in their first game back since a sensational 3-3 draw with FSD Academy which saw three goals in the final five minutes of stoppage time. Church with two of those goals to claw back a point and hoping to kick on from that spirited display.

It has now been two weeks since that crazy, bonkers and simply wonderful 95 minutes of football. They came into the game now knowing that the league had been split from top to bottom. The top eight of the division will all now lock horns and go head-to-head for a race to the finish line over the next two months - it sets it up to be a thrilling and captivating finale to the campaign, in which Church will want to be competitive with and showcase why they deserved their spot in the top eight of the division.

HOW IT UNFOLDED:
It was a rather cold and chilly morning on Wednesday, but had the makings of a mouth-watering game of football after the drama from last time out on their home patch. Krystian Pearce leading his side to hopefully three massive points to kick-start the second half of the season. They were in the mood and should have raced into a three-goal lead in the opening 20 minutes.

The first of three golden opportunities arrived the way of Jaedon Lindsey, who has seen goals hard to come by in recent weeks. Maybe lacking the killer instinct he had four or five weeks ago, he raced clear of the Strachan defence leaving him one on one with the goalkeeper. All he had to do was keep his composure and put his laces through the ball to rifle home, with the goal at his mercy. But seeing the keeper rush off his line, he attempted to chip the travelling number one. His chipped effort was tame allowing the keeper to collect, when he should have probably been picking it out of his net.

Chance number two came moments later. Will Hicks was causing problems all over the pitch with his pace and his directness. Travelling at will, and into the space, he skipped by two-three challenges before pulling the trigger from his right boot. It should have gone across goal, though his shot was aimed for the near post allowing the shot-stopper from Strachan to get down well his feet and hook it to safety.

The third opportunity to put us ahead came on 17 minutes. The hosts playing some magnificent stuff at times, they were forcing the visitors right back into their own final third. Kayden Heath rolled his marker brilliantly in the heart of midfield before picking out a delicious pass into the feet of Lindsey, who checked back inside and rifled his effort towards goal but could only hit the shot into the side-netting, giving the away side a much-needed breather having come under pressure for the opening period.

Failing to take chances normally has a tendency to come back and bite. On this occasion, it did as well. The travelling side chased in and stole the lead on 28 minutes. Having gifted the ball to the away team in midfield, the winger drove forward and was brought down outside but right on the edge of the area. However, the referee deemed the challenge to have been inside the box resulting in a penalty kick, much to the bemusement of Pearce' group of players. Church protested, but the referee was certain of his decision.

Having had a slight delay to the spot kick due to the protests, Strachan had their moment to take it now. The striker stepped up and was ice cold in the way he slotted into the bottom right-hand corner sending stand-in goalkeeper Korey Peets-Fearon in the opposite direction.

How were we 1-0 down?!

Shell-shocked. There wasn't much of a reaction from the home team, who were now being made to work to find their equaliser. We did have a chance with the final kick of the first half, but the header from the corner was sent the wrong side of the woodwork leaving us with work to do in that second 45 minutes.

HT: ALVECHURCH 0-1 STRACHAN FF

Could the hosts respond to that setback?

The changes were rung and chances continued to come and go for the home side. Frustrating.

Louie Clifford's introduction from the bench in the second half started to have the desired effect. It was the midfield maestro, who nearly found the net for Church in the first few minutes after the restart. He linked up brilliantly with Lindsey. His pass into the forward's feet was excellent before the striker sliced open the Strachan defence with a perfectly weighted-ball in behind. Clifford, with the form he's been in for our Centre of Excellence teams, you would bank on him finding the net but the goalkeeper again denying us!

Seven minutes later, the Worcestershire based club started to ramp up the pressure to find a more-than-deserved leveller. Elias Hylton was starting to travel down the right-flank hoping to unlock the door. His pass inside the pitch found Dieter Schwarm in space, the midfielder fresh from first-team training in the morning to a game on the Tuesday night helping his U18's side into the semi-finals, took the ball in his stride before taking aim from a tight angle. You know the rest, the goalkeeper once again coming to the away side's rescue.

How Alvechurch weren't ahead never mind being level was the question being pondered now...

It was turning out to be one of those days, where we could play to mid-night and not find the back of the net. Clifford delivered a deep free-kick into the area for a Church player to attack but the header was off target. Frustration creeping in now with time ebbing away.

GOOOOOOOAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

AT. LONG. LAST.

Pearce's men with a massive goal with ten minutes remaining. Strachan had a throwing into the far left-hand corner, the thrower gave it to his full-back, Hylton was on hand to force him into a mistake. He won the ball back before driving into the 18-yard area, he was about to cannon the ball towards the far corner, he instead teed up Ricoh Salvo on the edge of the box, who came onto it and caressed the ball into the bottom left-hand corner to drag us onto level terms.

There wasn't time for a winner though despite all the pressure the home team put the visitors under in the final moments of the game.

FT: ALVECHURCH 1-1 STRACHAN FF