REDDITCH United have been paired up with Halesowen Town once again.

Tim Flowers' side had dumped their West Midlands rivals out of the FA Cup first qualifying round last month 3-2 at the Valley Stadium.

Now they face each other again at the same venue on Saturday, October 5 in the FA Trophy third qualifying round (3pm).

The sides also drew 2-2 at the Valley Stadium in Southern League Premier Division Central earlier in August during a game hit by power cuts which forced a late finish.

So the sides will need little introduction in the Trophy next month with Redditch also having a derby this week on Tuesday with a trip to neighbours Bromsgrove Sporting in the league.

Flowers' side lost 2-0 at Bedford Town last weekend to follow their 1-0 FA Cup defeat in a home replay to lower-ranked Shifnal Town and a 1-0 reverse to another neighbouring club in Alvechurch.

Rob Howard put Bedford ahead on three minutes after a delayed kick-off due to lightning and Leon Lobjoit completed the scoring in the second half on 53 minutes in front of 923 fans in Bedfordshire.

Howard’s strike was the first goal on the new artificial pitch at the newly-renovated Eyrie.

A good ball across the box found Howard whose effort found the back of the net to give the Eagles the lead.

The Eagles were on top and dominating with their former player Dale Eve kept busy in goal.

The second half saw another good start for the Eagles who soon doubled their lead.

A good strike by Lobjoit made it 2-0 before Bedford managed to hold on and grind out the three points.

There was a new signing on the bench for the Reds in the form of 18-year-old striker Cyrus Bruce who is dual-registered from Rugby Borough.

Bruce has already scored 11 goals in 12 appearances this season.

Meanwhile, it was a much better weekend for Redditch United Ladies who breezed through the Women's FA Cup second qualifying round with a 10-0 win at Sedgley and Gornal United.

The Reds were six goals up at half-time and reached double figures in the second period.

Recently, United was the chosen venue of Il Calcio Inglese, a community of English football-loving Italians.

A large group flew over to experience a jam-packed weekend of Midlands-based football which included playing at the Valley Stadium.