FA Cup: Forest Green Rovers tie 'perfect' for Alvechurch, says Richard Thorndike
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Cheltenham Town 1-2 Alvechurch highlights
Alvechurch chairman Richard Thorndike says their trip to another League One side in the second round of the FA Cup is the "perfect" tie for the club.
The seventh-tier Worcestershire club, the lowest ranked side left in the competition, beat Cheltenham Town in one of the upsets of the first round.
Their reward is another trip to Gloucestershire to take on a professional club from the third tier.
"We want to give our fans another really good away day," Thorndike said.
"We looked at the potential draws before they came out, working out all the permutations, and this is perfect for us."
Alvechurch, just above the relegation zone in the Southern Premier League Central division, defied the odds - and the 96-place gap in the football pyramid - to shock the League One Robins at Whaddon Road thanks to two goals from Danny Waldron.
They now face a similar task trying to repeat their feat against Forest Green, currently 92 places above them.
"This is another not-too long journey to the same sort of area against the same sort of team from League One," Thorndike told BBC Hereford and Worcester.
"We watched their game against a really strong South Shields side, where Conor Wickham scored the goal of the day from the half-way line, so we know we've got our work cut out."
FA Cup: Connor Wickham scores amazing lob from halfway line
The Church's win over Cheltenham bagged Alvechurch £41,000 in prize money, taking their earnings in the FA Cup so far to just over £60,000.
Thorndike called the windfall "absolutely tremendous," adding it would enable the club to plan for "this season, next season and beyond".
Alvechurch hope to use the momentum generated by their cup run to increase support, with home gates currently around 300 in a village with a population of around 6,000.
"I've been chairman for 11 years and you get to know most of the faces," Thorndike said.
"We took 15 coaches to Cheltenham and there were people there I hadn't seen before wearing the Alvechurch colours and long may it continue."
Alvechurch's best FA Cup run saw them reach the third round in 1973-74
Although Thorndike is adamant the club's focus is firmly on Forest Green, he admits it is hard to shut out the tantalising prospect of a potential third-round tie against a Premier League club.
"The gaffer Ian Long is a staunch Manchester United fan. He said to me, 'I dare to dream' - but we can't look past Forest Green," he added.
"They are a League One professional outfit who are a really good footballing side.
"But should the magic happen and we manage to scrape through, then what about Man United or Aston Villa away?
"We're still pinching ourselves - little old Church in this spotlight."