Whitchurch Alport boss Luke Goddard admitted he was happy to reach the end of the season with a draw against north Shropshire rivals FC Oswestry Town but would have preferred the win.

The Yockings Park manager rested a number of key players ahead of Saturday's North West Counties Division One play-off semi-final against Sandbach United on Saturday.

Alport took the lead through Nick Marley but were pegged back by Dan Tinsley in front of 352 people at the home of the Reds, and while Goddard admitted he would have wanted to finish the season with a win, he was more than happy to come through unscathed ahead of the Sandbach clash.

"Saturday was a warm day and there was a bit of unknown as they failed to field a side on the previous Saturday, so we didn't know what they were going to bring," he said.

"In the end they had 13 bodies. As it was such as warm day, there was always going to be a pre-season feel about it as there was no pace to the game whatsoever.

"We were really good in the first half and we scored an absolutely cracking goal. We have a lad called Reece Taylor, who has been on AFC Telford's books, and he linked up really well with Nick.

"We were in control then but a goalkeeping error from Danny reed let them back in with the equaliser. But for the last 20 minutes, that goal killed us off in terms of looking for a winner and it wasn't really a glorious game to watch.

"But it was a good day with another great crowd and I was able to rest six or seven bodies that may play against Sandbach United in the play-off semi-final on Saturday.

"All-in-all, it was a good day but we did want to finish on a high by winning. But obviously, this Saturday is far more important and I was able top give Si Everall a rest plus a few others."

Goddard admits his semi-final plans are yet-to-be finalised but will consider putting players in ahead of others if it means getting the job done.

And he felt the players who stepped in on Saturday haven't done enough to convince him to make any last-minute changes ahead of the club's biggest game of the season.

He added: "They had the opportunity to play their way into my thinking and the result shows they probably haven't done that. I didn't see many things that have made me change my mind for Saturday.

"But there'll be a few tough decisions; we'll have 20-odd bodies for the play-off game and we can call on players if wee need to. We'll assess that this week and at the end of the day, it's about winning a football match. Ultimately it could be our last game of the season so if we need to see what suits the game."