WHITCHURCH ALPORT (Yockings Park)

NORTH WEST COUNTIES FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE, WHITCHURCH ALPORT 0-5 ECCLESHALL, ATTENDANCE: 84

The combination of a heavy cold and wet weather left me with a serious case of the old "cba" today but around 1pm the flu capsules began to kick in plus a tweet from Whitchurch, confirming their game against Eccleshall would be going ahead, managed to get me out of the front door.

Founded in 1946, Whitchurch Alport are named after Alport Farm, the home of Coley Maddox, a local footballer killed in action during World War 2. The club are newcomers to the North West Counties Football League (NWCFL) this season having moved up from the Mercian League, having previously spent most of their history playing in the Cheshire League.





Alport's application to join the NWCFL was initially turned down by the Football Association's National Leagues Committee as it was not supported the Shropshire FA or The Mercian League. The FA committee also took the opinion that as the Mercian League is not recognised as a step 7 league, the club could therefore not be considered as promotion candidates.

This was disappointing news, especially as the club had spent time and money upgrading their Yockings Park home in order to meet ground grading requirements. In June 2015 the club appealed that initial decision and won and were therefore able to take their place in the NWCFL Division One for the start of this season.

Up The Toffees!

I found Yockings Park to be a fantastic ground for this level, with a seated stand on one side of the ground and covered hard standing on the other side, where I sheltered from the rain which persisted throughout the game. The clubhouse served tea in proper mugs and I knew I was in for a good afternoon when my brew was served in a vintage Everton mug!




Alport have struggled to make and impact this season and currently find themselves bottom of the table with just the one win to their name (plus nine draws from their 22 games) and last time out they were on the end of an 8-0 drubbing from Holker Old Boys. To be brutally honest, it could have happened to them again today such was Eccleshall's domination of the match.

As the rain continued to fall, making a very greasy and heavy pitch, the visitors from Staffordshire were on the front foot from the off. Eccleshall eventually took the lead when a daisy cutter from Daniel Counter, from about 25 yards out, skidded underneath George Brooks in the Alport goal on 17 minutes.

A combination of poor finishing, good goalkeeping and a degree of luck kept the score down and Eccleshall only had a 1-0 lead at the break.

The second half started off in similar fashion to the first half and Eccleshall soon doubled their lead when Steven Hughes headed home on 50 minutes. That was effectively game over. Alport's cause was not helped when, around the hour mark, they lost their goalkeeper through injury and the replacement between the sticks didn't exactly cover himself in glory. 

Further goals from Dean Twigg (66 & 68) extended the visitors lead, but the cherry on the cake came when he threw the ball out and it landed at the feet of Hughes (72) who promptly sent it back into the net for his second of the game.




Whitchurch kept plugging away but sadly for them it was to no avail. It was always going to be a struggle for a team stepping up a level and I sincerely hope things take a turn for the better for Alport. I was very grateful to see a game this afternoon and a visit to Yockings Park is very much recommended.