By Liam Price, photos by Jonathan White
Whitchurch Alport claimed the Eddie Morris Memorial Trophy with a 2-1 friendly win over Nantwich Town.
On a crispy pitch and in 30c heat, it was never likely to be a thriller, and so it was for most of the first half with few attacks of note other than a Callum Saunders shot that was pulled wide of the far post on his weaker right foot.
The one moment of quality in the first period resulted in the first goal. A Whitchurch free kick from the right hand side was headed up rather than away; an Alport trialist watched it fall from a great height and tucked away a brilliant side-foot volley that the Nantwich keeper could not do anything about. With finishing like that, he won’t be a trialist for much longer.
In the second half, some positional and personnel changes worked well for the Dabbers as they controlled almost the entirety of the second period.
Ollie Pope and Liam Fitzpatrick had half chances, as did recently announced signing Iwan Roberts.
But Roberts was not to be denied as he was picked out in the box with a top cross from sub Aidy Roxburgh to head in unmarked for the equaliser in the 68th minute.
Fitzpatrick saw a goalbound effort very well blocked as they pressed on for the winner, but Nantwich were to be hit with the sucker punch in the last minute.
A rare foray forward by the hone side led to a couple of corners. The second of those was headed in, again unmarked, by a different Whitchurch trialist. Alport had won it with what seemed to be their only 2 shots on target in the match.
After the game, Luke Goddard was inducted into Whitchurch’s Hall of Fame for significant figures in their club history, after a very successful managerial spell there.
The next game for Nantwich is against Northwich Victoria at home on Tuesday 14th July at 7.45pm.
Nantwich Team
Trialist x2, Troy Bourne, Harry Davis (C), Liam Fitzpatrick, Ethan Hartshorn, Mason McKay, Joe Piggott, Iwan Roberts, Callum Saunders, Byron Moore
Subs: James Baillie, Aidy Roxburgh, Joe Collins, Ollie Pope, Kenzie Pickles, Trialist x2
Goal: Roberts (68)