Chadderton 3 Alport 0
 
Three goals inside the last 17 minutes condemned Alport to a first defeat in nine matches and ended an unbeaten away record that stretched back to mid-August. The scoreline was harsh on the league leaders with Mike Blundell twice denied by the crossbar with the scores still level, and the striker had also spurned a one-on-one situation midway through the second period. That said, Chadderton were a handful all afternoon and might have gone in front in the first half only to see keeper Danny Read pull off his FOURTH penalty save of the season. But once the hosts went in front, Alport went all out attack and left themselves vulnerable at the back, which was a major factor in what might seem to the onlooker as a drubbing. And although Chadderton deserved their victory, it was never a game that should have ended in a 3-0 defeat.
 
The Reds began the game really well and but for a fine block at his near post from Michael Smith, Blundell would have put Whitchurch in front within 90 seconds. Blundell chipped over Smith after 14 minutes only to see the ball hit the bar and soon after Stevie McNichol’s header was cleared off the line with Alport the side on top. But against the run of play Elliot Ledwards was penalised for a foul outside the area which in itself seemed harsh. But incredibly, the referee pointed to the penalty spot to stun the sizeable away following from the town. Matt Crothers stepped up to take the kick but Read plunged to his left to brilliantly hold onto the ball and it remained goalless. Five minutes before half-time Read’s heroics denied Liam Ellis and from the resulting corner the same player saw his goalbound header helped onto the bar by Reds defender Louis James.
 
Within 5 minutes of the second half starting Alport’s luck deserted them once more when Blundell’s rocket shot from all of 30 yards thundered against the goal frame, and as the ball came down, Smith was fortunate that it didn’t rebound over the line. It was starting to feel like one of those days and when Blundell sprinted clear on 65 minutes you fancied him to finish with Smith a considerable distance from his goalline. But with Blundell on the charge he dragged the ball a fraction too wide of the keeper and it allowed a defender to come around and cover. That was the Reds’ last chance of the match with Lewis Lacy sweeping the ball into the bottom corner after 73 minutes to break the deadlock. Ellis made it two with 10 minutes to play when James Curley had weaved some magic down the right, and the striker’s finish was clinical with the ball flying past Read via the base of the post. Former Manchester United legend Paul Scholes was amongst the crowd and he saw his son Arron get a late run-out from the bench and with Whitchurch piling men forward in a bid to try and salvage something from the game, Chadderton struck again. Sam Gibson was the scorer and that was game, set and match.
 
Co-manager Luke Goddard was disappointed but paid tribute to his players: “That’s our first defeat since November 15th so now is not the time to dwell,” he said. “There are always disappointments in football but we remain as one and the players are a credit to this football club. Lady Luck deserted us at times today and we didn’t get the breaks when we needed them. They had some really good players and were able to pick us off late on when we had to go chasing the game. We’re a determined bunch and we want to get back on it and try to make some history for the town we’re so proud to represent.”