Alsager Town 0 Alport 1
 An 82nd minute goal from Alex Hughes made sure that Alport maintained their four point lead at the top of Division One. Alsager – looking to narrow the gap on the league leaders and with games in hand – threw all their big guns at it but in truth, they couldn’t live with the quality possessed by Whitchurch who were full value for the points. After the goal, Alport had a handful of chances to really underline their superiority against a side that was playing Premier Division until their relegation at the end of last season. But they were met by an outstanding performance in goal from Bullets stopper, Chris Fletcher, who made several key saves to keep the scoreline respectable for the hosts. 154 fans made their way to Woodland Court to bring Alsager some comfort from a season’s high. But the overwhelming majority of those in the ground were wearing red and white scarves and hats as they provided superb backing for the Reds right through the match. Elliot Ledwards missed the game through sickness and with Matty Ashbrook away on holiday – and suspended for four games anyhow – Alport had to shuffle their pack. Carl Everall dropped in to cover Ledwards at centre-back and there was a recall for young Nick Marley at right back. Marley was brilliant and the rest of the Alport youngsters stood up to the over physical approach employed by the desperate hosts. A flare-up on the quarter hour saw a yellow card each for Oli Jepson and skipper Si Everall, but Kyle Diskin ought to have been dismissed for a clear head but on Jepson with the linesman well placed to see it. The number 4 got a yellow and it brought players from both sides together with Whitchurch fans howling for a red card. It was just one example of many where Town’s bullying tactics did little in knocking the gifted Alport youngsters out of their stride, with fine performances from the likes of Marley, Ryan Thomas and Dean Twigg who all showed maturity beyond their youth.  
 The first half was evenly contested with Mike Blundell going close from a free-kick but in the second half Whitchurch were by far the better side, with Danny Read hardly called upon. The influential keeper’s handling was impeccable in the first 45 and seemed to inspire those ahead of him. Si Everall missed a fine chance after 63 minutes when some fine build-up play sent him in one-on-one with Fletcher but the keeper’s legs kept the striker’s effort out. Everall and Stevie McNichol went close again for the away side whilst Alsager continued to deploy at times, thuggish behaviour. But the goal the 100 or so visiting supporters craved duly arrived with eight minutes left. Hughes controlled the ball well 12 yards out and smashed his shot right into the bottom corner to break the deadlock. Hughes ran to the enclosure housing the Reds fans and was buried under a sea of bodies with the whole team running over to join in. Whitchurch didn’t just hang on for the victory though as they relentlessly pounded an exhausted Town side. McNichol, Hughes and debutant sub Wes Nelson all could have made the eight additional minutes more bearable, but what a win this was for this talented group.
 Hero Hughes had a premonition that he would end up celebrating: “It’s funny because five minutes before I scored I could hear our fans banging on the side and the back of the stand and they were making a real racket. I thought if I score here I’m running right over to them and when I did they were going mental. All the lads piled on and it was something I’ve not experienced in football before. Our fans are just amazing and everyone is in this together. We’re delighted to give them the 3 points and I’m sure they’ll all be talking about the game tonight wherever they end up partying.”