AARON Lloyd made an immediate impact for Alvechurch this week when he scored with his first touch of the ball to secure a 1-0 win over Stratford Town in the FA Cup.

Church can now look forward to a home tie against Corby Town in the second qualifying round which takes place at Lye Meadow on September 22.

The Church cause was helped considerably when Stratford had Cody Fisher sent off in the first half following a high tackle.

But Church boss Ian Long insisted: "We actually played better when it as 11 v 11.

"Stratford lined up with two banks of four after going down to 10 men and nearly caught us out on a few occasions.

"But once we'd gone in front, we were never seriously threatened".

Josh March had earlier seen a goal ruled out for a foul on Stratford goalkeeper Ross Etheridge.

But Churchgoers had their hearts in their mouth when Stratford's Michael Taylor broke free, but was kept at bay by goalkeeper Matt Sargeant.

Long couldn't disguise his delight with a home tie against level 4 side Corby and confirmed: "We could have easily been drawn against a side from a higher level. We won't be taking Corby Town lightly and I will have them watched ahead of the game.

"To be honest, it's not a very good FA Cup draw for them. We're not a big club and we play on a sloping pitch. On the face of it, this isn't very attractive for them.

"It's important to us though and I will tell my players to seize the opportunity when it arrives. It's not very often as a player that you get the chance to have an FA Cup run. It never happened to me as a player, so they must make the most of it.

"If we beat Corby, it will mean we have made £18,000 in prize money alone, which is very important to a club like us. The prospect is massive!

Church were missing key players Zak Foster, Ryan Winwood and David Bellis for the tie, although Bellis and Foster should be back for Saturday's Southern League Central Division trip to Hitchin Town.

But Church have lost highly prized defender Yousef Ceesay who has signed for League One side Blackpool on a two year deal. He has since been loaned out to National League North side Boston United.

Long confirmed: "We did try to put Yousef on contract, but we couldn't agree terms. As a result, we don't get anything for him.

"But it would be nice of Blackpool if they were to offer us a pre season friendly instead!