A FIRST-HALF brace from Dan Sweeney inspired Alvechurch to a 2-1 derby win against local rivals Bromsgrove Sporting.
Sweeney struck twice in the first half to haunt his former club before Billy Shaw halved the deficit for Sporting after the break at Lye Meadow.
Church have now won their last five home games and sit 11th in the Southern League Premier Central table with Sporting further back in 16th place six points clear of the relegation zone.
Alvechurch backed up their win against Redditch with another derby victory and Church boss Tim Flowers hopes his side can take their momentum into the final 10 games of the season.
Flowers said: “It was a terrific first-half performance, we were on the front foot from the get-go, we played with intensity and high tempo.
“The honey on top of your toast was Sweeney getting a couple of goals, he was a real menace and challenged for everything.
“The second half was a different story, they pushed us back and we weren’t in control of the game.
“We were hanging on a little bit at the end, they hit the post, it was a game of two halves.
“It’s a fantastic win and two home wins back-to-back in local derbies.
“There’s always more to come, we’re one win away from that 50 points total which was something we were anxious to get to.
“We’ve managed to stretch the distance between us and the bottom four, we have to try and use this momentum to kick on and see if we can finish as high as we possibly can.”
Sporting have now lost three times to Alvechurch in all competitions this season.
And Rouslers boss Scott Adey-Linforth admits a poor first-half display cost his side dearly.
Adey-Linforth said: “The first half was the worst we’ve had since I’ve been here, we were miles off the pace, we didn’t get close to them.
“We shot ourselves in the foot, I asked for a reaction and we got one in the second half and we could have come away with a bit more than what we have.
“He’ll have nightmares about it [Carter Lycett’s late miss] but we missed two in the first half as well, we have to dust ourselves down and go again.”
Church broke the deadlock on 10 minutes when Sporting failed to deal with a corner from the right and Sweeney drilled a shot into the bottom left corner.
And Sweeney doubled the home side’s lead on 39 minutes when he pounced on Ash Carter’s weak backwards header and lobbed the ball over Sporting stopper Charlie Price.
Sporting reduced the deficit on 69 minutes as Shaw found the bottom corner from Jamie Meddows’ pass.
And the Rouslers spurned a golden chance to equalise in injury time as Carter Lycett somehow hit the woodwork from close range.
Alvechurch are next in action against Stamford on Saturday, March 15 with kick-off at 3pm at the Zeeco Stadium.
Sporting make the trip to St Ives Town on Saturday, March 15 with kick-off at 3pm at Westwood Road.
