Atherstone Town 1 Whitchurch Alport 3

Whitchurch Alport continue to rewrite the history books with a stunning comeback victory at Atherstone Town. There’s another chapter to be added as Luke Goddard’s men advanced to the last 32 of the FA Vase having prevailed by three goals to one at a ground that had seen 10 wins out of 11 in Town’s stunning league campaign to date. But despite taking a first half lead, a breath-taking performance after the break gave Alport a deserved passage into round four.

A frantic start to the game saw both sides go at it hammer and tongues but it was the hosts who took the lead with 20 minutes played when Brady Middleton pounced after Ellis Allen had saved the initial shot. It was an advantage they held to the interval and perhaps should have added a goal or two more but it was their profligacy in front of goal which proved to be Town’s downfall.

In the second 45 it was one-way traffic but Alport had to wait until the 65th minute to restore parity. An inswinging corner from Ivan Urvantev was met by Temi Ajibola who buried his header past O’Neill in the home goal. Five minutes later the away side were awarded a penalty and from the spot Ivan was calmness personified and the Reds – or Blues on this occasion – had turned the game completely on its head. Atherstone were up against it and soon had an even bigger mountain to climb when Mitch Thomson was shown a straight red card for a foul on Ivan. Within three minutes Jimmy Garlick almost scored a third but O’Neill denied him with a fantastic save but Alport weren’t to be denied and into added time Jack Berman converted having only been on the pitch for five minutes. That was that and all eyes are now on tomorrow’s draw.