North West Counties League

Premier Division

Northwich Victoria 2

Whitchurch Alport 0

A GOAL in each half was enough to give Northwich a rather comfortable win over Alport, although it was another one of those days where if the away side had been a little more clinical in front of goal, the outcome might well have been different.

Whitchurch might not have created the same number of chances they had in the previous game at home to Padiham, but they should have gone in front when Arron Johns was denied by a really smart piece of goalkeeping by Daniel Taberner just past the half-hour mark. They were then rattled when an obvious penalty award was turned away with the hosts going in front 60 seconds later, and the second goal came with less than 15 minutes remaining.

Johns should have had them celebrating when a fortuitous ricochet left him clean through on goal about 15 yards out. Aiming to slot the ball beyond Taberner, the keeper’s outstretched left boot diverted the chance past the post. Any kind of elevation on Johns’ shot would have put the away side in front.

Alport had a second chance to open the scoring when a shot from outside the box hit a Vics defender clearly on the hand but the referee turned away Alport’s protests.

Within a minute Vics led despite a clear foul on Reds keeper Dave Parton.

He was denied the chance to come and claim a corner kick when he saw his route to the ball blocked off and Brendan Barski was left unopposed to nod the ball into the net via a slight deflection off a Reds defender. The Yockings Park men could well have held a two-goal lead going into the break, but instead trailed.

At the resumption, Johns shot straight at the Northwich stopper as Alport began to enjoy the kind of possession that the home side had enjoyed in the first half.

Parton made the save of the match to stop Joe Camozzi’s blockbuster from finding the top corner but with 13 minutes left, the game was over when Vics struck on the counter attack as Darryhl Mason diverted Joel Brownhill’s shot past Parton.