ALVECHURCH advanced to the next round of the Birmingham Senior Cup following a penalty shootout success away at 10-man Boldmere St. Michaels.
Jamie Willets scored a late equaliser to take the third round tie to penalties after Tyrell Skeen Hamilton struck in the first half of a 2-2 draw at the Trevor Brown Memorial Ground.
Church eventually triumphed 5-4 on penalties to reach the quarter-finals of the competition where they join the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Coventry City.
Boldmere took the lead on 13 minutes when Alex McSkeane fired home past Harvey Randle after he was played in down the right-hand side of the penalty area.
Alvechurch drew level on 37 minutes when Hamilton latched onto Jack Hallahan’s sensational outside of the foot pass and produced a calm finish past the onrushing goalkeeper.
The home side reclaimed the lead on the hour mark when Harry Sweeney drilled an effort into the bottom right corner from 20-yards out.
Boldmere were reduced to 10-men in the closing stages as James Bowen received a straight red card for a poor challenge on Church’s Aurio Teixeira.
And Church made the most of the man advantage to equalise in injury time as captain Willets headed home from close range after Danny Waldron headed the ball across goal to the defender who squeezed the ball in.
Penalties ensued and Josh Dugmore scored the winning spot kick on his Church debut after Boldmere blazed their fifth attempt over the crossbar.
Alvechurch are next in action away at Basford United on Saturday, January 14 with kick-off at 3pm at Greenwich Avenue.
