Lye Town 4, Alvechurch 0

AS second-placed Lye kept up the pressure on Midland Football League leaders Long Eaton United with a comfortable victory over a youthful Alvechurch, chairman Brian Blakemore refused to be drawn on whether last season’s West Midland League champions have applied for promotion again this year, writes Max Hall.

In the wake of watching the club ease past Lee Knight’s Churchmen, Blakemore would say only: “We are still working to get the current ground grading, which is required by the end of March and which will be completed.”

Blakemore said the final cosmetic changes required, including upgrading a PA system which has sounded like Norman Collier was on the mic on the rare occasion it has been used of late and adding signage, would be completed on time with around £2,000 spent on the ground since securing the long-waited-for promotion. He would not comment on whether the club has applied for permission to step up again, in the event of an unlikely successive title. The deadline for applying passed back in November, long before Lye embarked on the seven-match run of victories that has hoisted them to second.

The decision to pull burly striker James Spray back into midfield has been a huge factor in the title charge and the former Wolves and Stourbridge forward was in magisterial form against Alvechurch, supplying the slide-rule pass which saw Ricky Anslow open the scoring in the 23rd minute and sending the forward into the area again three minutes into the second half for the killer second, courtesy of a clumsy attempt to stop the striker by visiting left back Aaron Xavier.

By that stage, Spray could have had two more assists, setting up forward Chris Russell with a glorious chance which he blazed horribly high and wide in the 33rd minute and providing another inviting opportunity for Anslow five minutes before the break only for Church keeper Shaun Edwards to dash off his line to deny the striker.

It was all too much for newly-installed manager Knight, after the high of beating title-hopefuls Basford United in his first game in charge last week, having replaced Lee Adams.

“We’ve done ourselves no favours at all today,” he said after the game.

“We go in 1-0 down at half time and we talk about trying to keep it tight at the start of the second half and then maybe going for it in the last 15 to 20 minutes. But then you’ve seen we’ve given the ball away in midfield and conceded a penalty through terrible defending and it’s all over. We huffed and puffed after that but we couldn’t get back into it.”

The second half was one-way traffic after Anslow sent Edwards the wrong way from the spot with the forward sending a low effort wide moments later and Edwards supplying a brilliant reflex save at his near post after Russell’s textbook glancing header capped a Simon Williams cross.

Lye’s third arrived after three successive corners, Edwards pushing away a shot from Lye substitute Reece Shilvock after weak defending from Xavier and the keeper again denying Shilvock, whose shot through a crowd of players took a hefty deflection from the resulting corner. After those back-to-back saves, the third corner was allowed to reach Jevons at the far post and his towering downward header was fumbled it into his net.

The fourth goal was the best, Overfield barging Alvechurch central defender Jesse Race off the ball far too easily in the left corner before lofting in the perfect cross for Anslow to volley home his hat-trick 11 minutes from time and he could have added a fourth in the 86th minute but blazed uncharacteristically high and wide from a good position.

That proved small consolation to Knight, who suffered his first defeat in five, taking into account the matches he took charge of when Adams went on holiday before stepping down.

For The Lye, it will be onwards and, possibly, upwards.