ALVECHURCH produced a stunning comeback from two goals down to beat Alfreton Town on penalties and reach the fourth round of the FA Trophy.
Church upstaged their National League North opponents at Lye Meadow to claim a dramatic 4-1 victory in the shootout following a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
Alfreton raced into a two-goal lead inside 15 minutes as Mark Beck and Bayley McCann put the visitors in command at the break.
However, Jonathan Ngandu halved the deficit in the second half before recent signing Manny Ilesanmi drew the home side level to take the game to penalties.
And Church scored all four of their penalties in the shootout as Louis Clifford converted the decisive spot kick after Alfreton twice hit the crossbar.
The draw for the fourth round of the FA Trophy takes place on Monday, December 15 live on talkSPORT 2 from around 5pm.
Alfreton broke the deadlock after just eight minutes as Beck turned home Taylor Anderson’s cross from the right at the second attempt from close range.
And the visitors doubled their lead five minutes later when McCann nipped in to win the ball ahead of a Church defender and coolly finished past Redman Evans when one-on-one.
Church eventually reduced the deficit after the break on 58 minutes as Ngandu lashed a sensational effort into the net via the aid of the post from 25-yards out.
And the home side equalised on 64 minutes when Ilesanmi found the bottom right corner from Kieran Wakefield’s clever backheel.
Neither side could find a winner in the remaining minutes which saw the game go to a penalty shootout.
Successful penalties from Ilesanmi, Joe Willis and Ethan Sephton put Church on the brink of victory after both Beck and Harry Perritt struck the crossbar for the visitors.
And substitute Clifford sent Alfreton goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne the wrong way with Church’s fourth penalty to send Kyle Storer’s side through to the next round
Church have now won all four of their FA Trophy matches on penalties this season and have reached the fourth round of the competition for the first time in their history.
