North West Counties League

Premier Division

Bootle 5

Whitchurch Alport 2

Anyone that didn’t make the trip to Merseyside on Saturday could have been mistaken that this result was a stroll in the park for form side, Bootle.

The hosts may well have recorded their sixth straight win against Alport, but up until the last 10 minutes the game was in the balance.

Arron Johns and Alex Hughes both had the Reds in front but a rare goalkeeping error by the uber-reliable Dave Parton just before half-time gave Bootle a platform to get back in the game.

Alport sent the large away following into raptures after just 15 minutes when Hughes latched onto a through ball, but after racing clear, the forward saw his effort blocked by the onrushing Jack McGovern. But Hughes pounced on the rebound before teeing up Johns, who fired the ball into the unguarded net.

Four minutes later though and the Bucks were level. A loose ball fell perfectly into the path of the onrushing Daniel Murphy. The centre-back let fly with a right-footed effort that flew into the top corner from 35 yards.

Eight minutes before the half-time interval and the visitors were back ahead. Liam Loughlin’s loose pass was pounced on by Hughes who finished past McGovern.

To their credit, Bootle once again rallied and levelled two minutes before the break. Ste Jones’ shot from the edge of the box was spilled by Parton with Carl Peers on hand to bundle the ball home.

Bootle’s pressure told on the hour mark when Connor Millington collected his fourth goal in as many games.

Michael Carberry floated in a ball from the left and Millington reacted quickest to turn and fire a half-volley into the net.

Bootle added a fourth with 10 minutes left when Kieran Halligan scored his first of the season.

Luke Goddard then saw red for Alport after he brought down Peers who was bearing down on goal with the clock running down.

Jones completed the scoring in stoppage time with a stunning free-kick. The forward superbly curled the ball over the wall into the top far corner of the net.