Stourbridge 3, Alfreton Town 1

STOURBRIDGE'S love affair with the FA Cup continued as they beat nine-man Alfreton Town to book their place in the fourth qualifying round.

A first half flurry of red cards handed the home side the advantage before goals from Tom Tonks, Josh Green and Leon Broadhurst saw them progress.

Alfreton never gave up though and Craig Westcarr netted from the penalty spot with the game at 2-0 to keep a replay within reach for long periods before Stour completed the win late on.

The game had burst to life just before the 20-minute mark when turning significantly in the Glassboys' favour.

The first big moment arrived on 19 minutes when the visitors found themselves reduced to 10 men as Thomas Allan saw red when hauling down Jordan Archer as he looked to get in behind.

Allan had let the ball slip under his foot and Archer, who was always looking to play on the shoulder, pounced.

Allan could only grapple the pacy forward to the ground and referee Scott Simpson quickly flashed the red.

Five minutes later Alfreton were down to nine men as another defensive error let Stour in.

This time Brad Wood let the ball run without seeing Matt Dodd charging in from the right to get onto the loose ball.

The challenge went in and the ref adjudged Dodd had got his toe to it first and again brandished the red for Wood. This time it looked a little harsh and Town would be quick to argue their wasn't a clear goal scoring opportunity.

Unconcerned, Stour were quick to take advantage and break to the deadlock.

Tom Tonks stepped up and curled a sublime effort into the top corner from the resulting free kick to hand his side a lead as well as their two-man advantage.

Alfreton, unable to commit men forward, found themselves pegged back by the hosts who went looking for a killer second.

Dodd passed up a massive opportunity when firing straight at Town keeper Chris Elliott five minutes before the break after Forde had played him in.

Tonks curled another effort past the post and Darryl Westwood also drilled wide as they failed to add to their advantage before half time.

The Glassboys were again well in control when the second half got underway and continued to dominate possession with two extra players on the pitch.

It looked like Alfreton may continue to stifle Stour's push for a second as they dropped deep for damage limitation.

The home side did finally bag the second on 58 minutes as Josh Green guided the ball in from close range after Paul McCone rose well to win Forde's corner.

But, just when you thought Stour were all but in the next round, Alfreton were handed an unlikely lifeline when the ref adjudged Westlake had handled the ball in the area.

A quick ball through was chased down by Andre Johnson but gathered by keeper Matt Gould. However, the ref had spotted a handball as Westlake looked to shepherd the ball back and pointed to the spot.

Craig Westcarr stepped up to fire home and keep the score to within one.

Stour continued come forward against the nine men, Archer seeing a header saved on 71 minutes, but they had momentarilly lost their fluency heading into the final 25 minutes.

It was a dangerous spell for the Glassboys as the nine men were buoyed by their goal and found themselves much more in the contest then they had been since the first half red cards.

The clash was suddenly opening up as both sides looked for another.

Stour continued to push with their extra men but Archer couldn't reach Dodd's strong cross from the right and suddenly we were potentially heading for a nervy finish.

That was until Leon Broadhurst wrapped it up for the Glassboys three minutes from time.

Skipper Stuart Pierpoint won the initial header from another Stour corner before Broadhurst provided the finish to finally see off determined Town.

Stour were made to work hard by the visitors despite the red cards but they can once more look to Monday afternoon's draw for the fourth qualifying round.

They will then welcome Coalville later that night as their attention has to quickly switch back to league action.

Stourbridge: Gould, Christophorou, Westlake, McCone (c), Pierpoint, Forde, Dodd (Kiembi 89), Broadhurst, Archer O'Callaghan 85), Green (Rowe 70), Tonks.

Unused subs: Duggan, Cooke, Jeavons.

Alfreton: Elliott, Topliss, Wood, Keane, Shiels, Allan, Jennings (Marshall 85), Disley (c), Sharp, Westcarr (Robertson 86), Johnson (German 85).

Unused subs: Lenaghan, Evans, Brough, Weatherer.

Att: 646