ISUZU FA TROPHY | FOURTH ROUND PREVIEW

We hear from Alvechurch's Ethan Sephton ahead of their big day

The Isuzu FA Trophy reaches the fourth round stage this weekend and three of our member clubs are still flying the flag.

There’s a mouth-watering tie at Premier South leaders, Walton & Hersham, as they play host to National League new-boys, Brackley Town.

It’s been such an impressive campaign so far for Walton & Hersham and now they will be able to test themselves against opponents who finally made it onto non-League football’s top table at the end of last season.

Brackley are currently in 17th place in The National League.

Meanwhile there’s a long journey north for Gloucester City as they go to Marine of The National League North.

City have already removed two higher level opponents from this year’s competition, in Slough Town and Worthing, who were both beaten on penalties. Now they are ready to face the challenge that Marine will provide. They are 11th in The National League North table.

The Premier Central flag is being flown by Alvechurch, who will put their League battles to one side for the time being as they head to National League side, Yeovil Town, who are now under the guidance of former Walton & Hersham manager, Billy Rowley.

Having found themselves challenging amongst the leading pack earlier in the season, Alvechurch’s form has dipped to the point where they now sit just one place and three points away from the relegation zone. They face opponents who are in 15th place at Step 1.

“We’re excited for the tie, but we treating it as we would for any other game,” Ethan Sephton told us. “Our approach is the same; we go there looking to win and progress further in this competition.”

Sephton first joined the club at the age of 14 and since then has gone on to have a few spells, amassing over 100 senior appearances along the way.

He is confident that their form will turn once more.

“The season so far has been disappointing in truth,” he added. “Particularly with the squad we have here, we should be challenging at the top end of the table.

“We play good football but that doesn’t necessarily win games. I believe that there is a lot more to come from this group and Saturday is an ideal opportunity for us to show what we are capable of against higher level opponents.

“We want to progress as far as we can in every competition that we enter; an FA Trophy run can go hand-in-hand with our League form and moving up the table.

“This League is pretty open and every week there are crazy results, so things can change quite rapidly.

“Both the team and I will look to work hard and start getting the results to go along with the performances.”

We wish each of our member clubs the very best of luck and congratulate them on reaching this stage of the competition.

IMAGE: @IMacvie