BRADLEY Stretton scored the only goal as Alvechurch beat Bishop’s Stortford 1-0 to claim a third straight home victory.
Stretton scored the winner just past the hour mark at Lye Meadow as Church bounced back from their weekend defeat against St Ives Town.
The result means Alvechurch sit 12th in the Southern League Premier Central table and are now closer to the play-off places than they are to the relegation zone.
Alvechurch first team coach, Steve Hensel said: “The lads put an absolutely stellar effort in, they were immense.
“The number of set-pieces we forced in the final third and the delivery on them was really good.
“We were relieved [the goal] came because we deserved it.
“The defence were absolutely brilliant, we didn’t look under a lot of threat until they gave it a good go at the end.
“It was about the character of the squad to bounce back and we could tell they were desperate to put it right.”
Church almost made the perfect start as Archie Crowther saw his header from Stretton’s corner cleared off the line.
And visiting goalkeeper Elliot Krasniqi then kept out Krystian Pearce’s effort at his near post before denying Crowther for a second time.
However, Bishop’s Stortford almost took the lead at the other end as Ronnie Hollingshead produced a stunning stop to keep out Olumide Oluwatimilehin’s deflected shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Krasniqi then made an equally impressive save as he reacted quickly to keep out Stretton’s deflected free-kick before also denying Sweeney from another set-piece.
Church remained on top after the break and eventually broke the deadlock on 64 minutes when Stretton’s shot took a wicked deflection on its way into the net.
The home side spurned a glorious chance to double their lead as Ammar Dyer slipped in Dylan Allen-Hadley only for Krasniqi to smother the striker’s effort.
However, Church held on to secure a fourth win from their last five league matches.
Alvechurch are next in action against AFC Sudbury on Saturday, February 8 with kick-off at 3pm at Lye Meadow.
