Whitchurch Alport manager, Luke Goddard, has been critical of his side’s profligacy in front of goal but he had nothing to complain about on Saturday when Studley took three points courtesy of a 3–1 win at the KMJ Mortgages Stadium.

Aside from Jordan Evans equaliser within 10 minutes of the second half, Alport barely laid a glove on opposition goalkeeper, Brendan Bunn, aside from a penalty save midway through the second half. Okay, the spot-kick was at the height that all keepers would push away unless they had dived to the opposite corner. The surprise came that the penalty was missed by star striker, Alex Hughes, although to be fair to Hughes he had only been on the pitch for five minutes having come on as a substitute. The Reds were 2–1 down at the time so a leveller might have made it a more exciting and possibly a different outcome.

The defeat was a blow in that Alport were looking to build on the one goal win at Lye Town in midweek with Jack Tomlinson the matchwinner. The biggest disappointment from the weekend’s setback was a victory would have seen Whitchurch move up to 3rd place in the Midlands Premier League.

Coach Adam Shillcock was scathing over the side’s display: “The players need to stand up and take some responsibility for that performance. Defensive errors all over the back four which were heavily punished but we were very poor right through the side, with the exception of man of the match, James Rowlands, who covered every blade of grass on the pitch. We have to dust ourselves down and be ready to go again for Monday night’s game at Romulus. Darlaston on Saturday gives us a chance to put right that showing, if that is the right word, in front of our own supporters.”