Stourport Swifts: Late leveller spares keeper's blushes

Swifts keeper Lewis Gwilliams had a moment to forget, allowing sought-after hitman Josh March’s effort to squirm under his body five minutes before the interval, writes Andy Mitchell.

But despite weathering spells of Alvechurch pressure in the second half, Phillips’s charges kept going until the end and snatched a 1-1 draw against the pre-season Midland League title favourites.

“Alvechurch were second best all over the pitch in the first half but snatched a 1-0 lead when Lewis just let a shot go through him,” said Phillips.

“I spoke to him after the game. He said it was such an easy shot that he had already started to think about what to do with it. He held up his hands and nobody means to make mistakes.

“He was excellent apart from that so we will forgive him.

“It was a shame because we bossed the first half and that surprised me a bit because they have a very good side. We told the lads to keep going and that if we could boss the game like we had in the first half, we would be fine.

“In fairness, they probably shaded the second half. I thought it was going to be one of those nights when Sam Beasley was sent off for a second yellow card towards the end but fair play to the lads, they kept going and got their rewards.”

The creditable draw followed a 5-1 FA Vase win over Smethwick Rangers on Saturday in which Joe Phillips nabbed a hat-trick and Matthew Pinder scored two.

“Again, we bossed the first half but as a young side, we have been prone to the odd mistake,” Phillips continued.

“We were two up and cruising but with a couple of minutes of the first half to go, we tried something different from a free-kick.

"The lads lost it and they scored from but luckily, we got the next one and went on to win comfortably.”

Phillips hopes to welcome back Ben Maund from illness for Saturday’s home league match with Coventry United (3pm).

James Hill remains sidelined with a knee injury.