Alport (3) 3 Chadderton (0) 0
Three goals in a blistering opening 20 minute spell accounted for Chadderton to keep Alport level on points at the top of the Division One table. Mike Blundell added to his midweek double at Liverpool to get Alport off to a great start, and two from skipper Si Everall all but wrapped up the points to further enhance the reputation of what is, when all is said and done, a newly constructed side. In fairness to Chadderton, they dug in and created a number of decent chances but Whitchurch dug in and ran out comfortable winners to stay amongst the leading pack in the table.
Blundell struck after eight minutes with a crisp low shot across Michael Smith in the Chadderton goal following a great delivery in from the left with Elliot Ledwards the supply line. Everall was then thwarted by Smith within a couple of minutes and centre half Ryan Thomas was unlucky when he clattered the bar with a neat volley from an Alex Hughes corner. Moments later though, an exquisite long pass from Blundell saw Everall latch onto it and in one movement skip around Smith to roll the ball home for 2-0. Soon after Everall went on an excellent run that saw him ride several tackles to stay on his feet and pick out the far corner to extend Alport’s lead to three.
Danny Read in the home goal did well with a slippy match ball proving difficult to handle and there were few heart-in-mouth moments for the excellent 122 crowd. Chadderton had chances to get back in the game but they weren’t as clinical as the hosts and Matt Crothers, James Curley and Gareth Hill all might have done better for the Lancastrians. As it turned out, it was Alport who went closest to changing the scoreline when a peach of a through ball from Carl Everall found Dean Twigg, only for Smith to rescue the away side with another cracking save with just four minutes remaining.
Alport were irresistible in the opening exchanges and although they tailed off somewhat after all but killing the game off, it was important to build on the midweek win at Liverpool and record a first home win since the beginning of September.