JAMES Fry praised Alvechurch’s defensive display following a hard-fought 1-0 win away at Stourbridge in the FA Trophy.
An early goal from Ammar Dyer settled the tie at the War Memorial Athletic Ground as Church booked their place in the second round of the competition.
And Church boss Fry felt his side’s effort and commitment saw them over the line against their divisional rivals.
Fry said: “It was everything I expected it to be, it’s a tough place to come but playing them the other week helped us.
“Our defensive display was excellent, we had to tweak a few things as the game went on to help nullify where they were getting on top of us.
“Our defensive line was excellent, what we’re looking for is to finish them off on the counter attack.
“That’s where we want to get better away from home and that’s ultimately going to take the pressure off the back line who stood up to everything that was thrown at them.
“I don’t question the lads in terms of their effort and commitment, they’ve run themselves into the ground, the squad is really stretched.
“I’m under no illusions, I know where our strengths and weaknesses lie, we’re trying to do something about it.
“We know where we need to be and we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us to make sure we achieve the things we want to achieve.
“Sudbury is a really tough place to go, we’re going to have to be on the top of our game both technically and tactically, we’ll have to be spot on to get a result.”
The game’s only goal came after just two minutes as Dyer turned home Kieran Wakefield’s cutback from the right from 12-yards out.
Alvechurch are next in action against AFC Sudbury on Saturday, November 2 with kick-off at 3pm at Brundon Lane.
