DYLAN Allen-Hadley’s early goal proved decisive as Alvechurch booked their place in the next round of the FA Cup with a 1-0 win against Basford United.
Allen-Hadley’s close range finish settled the game as Church kept their step three opponents at bay during a tight affair at Lye Meadow.
And Alvechurch will travel to divisional rivals Halesowen Town in second round qualifying on Saturday, September 16 with kick-off at 3pm at The Grove.
Ian Long’s side took the lead on seven minutes when the Basford goalkeeper failed to head the ball to safety and Allen-Hadley finished into an empty net at the second attempt.
However, Basford almost drew level soon after when neat interplay on the edge of Church’s penalty area set up Brodie Litchfield for a chance as Dale Eve made an important save when one-on-one.
And the visitors went close again just before the half-hour mark when Ethan Patterson made a stunning block to keep out Jack Thomas’s shot with the ball destined for the bottom left corner.
Church then spurned a couple of chances to double their lead as Jack Concannon’s fierce shot came back off the keeper into the path of Allen-Hadley who was also denied by the Basford stopper.
Basford thought they had drawn level on the stroke of half time when Ethan Cartwright fired home at the back post only for the assistant’s flag to rule the goal out for offside.
The home side should have doubled their lead at the start of the second half only for Allen-Hadley’s effort to be kept out by Kieran Preston after he was played in behind the Basford defence.
And the offside flag came to Church’s rescue for a second time when Dom Roma’s header found the corner as Basford saw their celebrations cut short.
Remarkably, Basford had a third effort ruled out for offside with 10 minutes left to play before Tom Angell’s header came back off the post in injury time as Church held on to book their place in the next round.
