Whitchurch Alport manager Luke Goddard felt his side missed a glorious opportunity to extend their winning sequence to three games when they could only draw with Hanley Town on Saturday.

Alport gained their first win of the season by beating Northwich Victoria a week ago and then sent shockwaves through the rest of the division by pulling off their first away win of the season at Congleton Town on Tuesday night, ending their previous 100 per cent start.

Town had scored 17 goals and conceded twice, but by the 38th minute Alport had found the back of the net three times and although Congleton pulled one back with 20 minutes to go the Reds bossed the game for long spells.

The home game against Hanley saw Whitchurch concede after just three minutes and although the first 20 minutes were spent on the back foot, Alport played some great football for the remainder of the half and went in 2-1 up at the break.

However, Alport were uncharacteristically out of sorts int he second half, defending deeper and deeper and more often than not they relied on a long ball tactic that doesn’t utilise their strengths.

“I think that’s two points dropped definitely,” said Goddard. “

"After beating Northwhich and Congleton you look at the upcoming fixtures including today, and it’s mostly sides in and around us.

That represents a good chance for us to put more points on the board but today I thought we looked weary. In recent weeks, the back four has looked almost impregnable but they conceded two really soft goals.

“I think Camps (Darren Campion) and Leon (Ashman) along with Parts (goal keeper Dave Parton) had built up a solid back line, but even they weren’t at the races today. I can’t say it’s a lack of desire because that’s in our DNA and the lads are gutted in the dressing rooms.”

Goddard hinted at changes to the side for last night’s trip to Burscough: “I’ve got a terrific squad here and we’re coming closer to the time where I will have everyone available," he added.

"Those lads that didn’t get a game today have every right to expect consideration for that match.

"It was brilliant to see another massive crowd up here and they will have been disappointed by today’s performance and result. We didn’t play with enough intensity in the second half and they didn’t heed my instructions during the half time interval.

"Had we gone and pressed them playing higher up the field we might have seen them crumble, but like most teams in this division, Hanley are a decent side.

"Really, we should have beaten them 5 or 6-1 so the most disappointing thing for me is that we didn’t kill them off.”

n Alport are away again on Saturday as they travel to lowly Abbey Hey.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Alport will play Allscott at Yockings Park on Wednesday, October 10th in the Ethelston Cup Final, a trophy the Reds will want to win.