So, the day had finally arrived for The Church and for the first-ever time in this competition, they etched their names into the history books as they went into the third round qualifying for the very first-time in their history. They welcomed tier-four opposition Sutton Coldfield Town Women to the home of Alvechurch FC First-Team, Lye Meadow Stadium.

For the home team, it was their first appearance at the Meadow since February 2023, when they beat arch-rivals Redditch United (4-0) to sail to the top of tier seven. Fast forward a year and eight months, how things can change. Church now in tier five and preparing to welcome a side from the FA Women's National League - where the hosts aspire to be one day.

Coming into the game, Church on the back of a tight defeat at the hands of former tier-four side Leek Town Ladies away from home last time out. Whilst the visitors arrived into today's contest on the back of five defeats in a row and just the six points from a possible 24 in the league. For a team of their calibre, well below their standards, we are sure. But, they were hoping to kick-start their campaign with a win in the FA Cup.

REPORT:
The hosts started very brightly in the cup tie and had a golden opportunity to take the lead on 11 minutes. A beautiful cross from Charlotte Leedham out wide fell perfectly for Lara Stevens in the centre. She was able to bring the ball down before attempting to strike goalwards but the striker saw her effort cleared off the line to deny Church an opener.

The home side showing no fear also managed to withstand the pressure and dominance on the ball shown by their opponents, as you would expect for a period of 23 minutes.

There was no shame even with what followed. A ten-minute span saw the visitors claim three very quickfire goals. The first goal came from a player that was signed in the week. Liv Woolston found space down the left-hand wide area before driving into the penalty area and teeing up Eva Cassidy in the middle for a tap-in.

The second came a minute later. Cassidy, having a debut to remember, grabbed her brace. A stunning save from Johnson-Derrick deserved so much more but the ball fell perfectly for Cassidy, who smashed home the rebound. The tie was pretty much settled on 30 minutes. A cross from out wide was almost dealt with, however, the ball ricocheted off our defender's leg and into the net.

As we approached the half-time whistle, the pick of the bunch of goals that Sutton scored came. From 25 yards out, Chloe Evans had time and space to unleash a venomous strike which arrowed into the top corner to ensure that it would be Sutton's cup match to lose.

HT: ALVECHURCH 0-4 SUTTON COLDFIELD

At the break, even despite being four goals down, Alvechurch were playing very well and just needed to tighten up a little to ensure no more goals were to follow but also try and have a go at the tier-four side. A very disciplined second-half performance from Church was one of the many positives for Ben Davis and his coaching staff to come away with.

Having signed a tier three striker at the start of the day as well and all the noise surrounding her return, our defence and goalkeeper managed to keep her quiet, which is no mean feat for any team, even for ourselves. A day which also saw Sutton arrive with a whole host of firepower on the bench but even with their arrivals onto the pitch, there was next to nothing being created. We did have Fleur to thank on a few occasions in the first period. Not too much in the second.

To keep a very high-ranked classed under-pressure tier four side quiet for large parts of the encounter and just the 13 players in the matchday squad, Church can hold their heads up high. Perhaps the away team took their foot off the gas too, but, overall a day of huge amounts of pride and a day to remember for the young side.

History-makers in the FA Cup. Our first go at it, ever. We would say it's been a monumental effort from the players and now we will look to take that into the next few league games as we look to get points on the board.

FT: ALVECHURCH 0-4 SUTTON COLDFIELD

As we've mentioned quite a lot, there is no shame with that performance nor the result. Ben Davis' superstar squad is continuing its battle to get players back fit and mirror large periods of good play into a full 90 minutes display. The penny isn't quite falling for the home side just yet but it won't be long before they get their form back. Performances in the last two games seem to suggest that they are getting mighty close to turning their season around.

Well done, ladies. We are very proud of you all.