Whitchurch Alport 1 -0 AFC Blackpool
 
A third goal in the space of three days from winger Lee Pickerill was enough to earn Whitchurch Alport a deserved three points against a hardworking AFC Blackpool side who played their part in a ultra competitive fixture in awful conditions.
 
The game started at a good tempo for Alport as they looked to make advantage of the visitor’s long journey to Yockings Park on a Monday night. Last year’s top goalscorer Mike Blundell made his first start for the Reds since September after a season plagued by injury. Blundell was at the forefront of the positive start made by the home side and after some excellent flowing football, Johns delivered a precise ball into the box for Blundell 8 yards out. The striker couldn’t make the contact he was looking for to direct the ball past Kirkland in goal and the game remained level.
 
Many half chances were created after this for Alport but that elusive first goal didn’t arrive as the rain continued to drive down making the Yockings Park pitch very heavy and difficult to play on for both sides. Blackpool were a huge threat for the Reds defence with forwards Duffield, Williams and Gregory causing lots of issues with their pace. Both Williams and Gregory missing decent opportunities to put the playoff hopefuls in the lead.
 
Into the second half and much like the first period Alport started brightly on the front foot looking dangerous with Blundell, Johns and Pickerill all creating problems for the AFC defence. It was Porter who had the first guilt edged opportunity of the second half as he broke through on goal but his touch took him too wide and the chance dwindled as Blackpool cleared their lines. On the reverse Alport defended superbly well second half and limited the dangerous forward line of the visitors to very few opportunities.
 
Alex Hughes and Harry Parkinson replaced the injured Blundell and Porter as the Reds now pushed forward to gain a deserved winning goal. This finally came in the 77th minute and it was that man Pickerill with the goal. James lofted a ball forward from left back which cleared the Blackpool defence, goalkeeper Kirkland was hesitant as Hughes got to the ball first to setup Pickerill for a tap in from 3 yards. The relief was evident for all at Alport as the players celebrated together sensing a reward for a battling display against a good Blackpool side.
 
The game remained 1-0 in a second half where Alport hit the woodwork twice and slowly ground down their visitors. Both set of players gained a much deserved applause from the 143 supporters in attendance as they played their part in a decent competitive match in what became dreadful conditions. Another 3 points for Luke Goddard`s men as they moved back upto 3rd in the table ahead of a trip to Atherton LR tomorrow evening (7.45pm).