Whitchurch Alport manager Luke Goddard is busy preparing his side for a lucrative upcoming match against Conference North outfit AFC Telford United.

Alport managed to retain the Ethelston Cup for the first time in 39 years in midweek against a stubborn FC Oswestry Town side, and now they have a chance to reach another Cup final should they see off Telford in the Huddersfield Cup at Yockings Park next Thursday night – April 11.

Goddard missed the Etheltson Cup game through illness but was pleased the club have made another little piece of history in retaining their title.

"I did a little bit of research on the Ethelston Cup the night before the game and I was staggered to find out that it was nearly 40 years since Alport recorded back-to-back wins in that competition," he said.

"Because we've staged the Ethelston Cup at Yockings I just took it for granted that we would have won the tournament more regularly than that. So it's pleasing that we've managed to retain the trophy we won last season and it's a little bit of history created by this current group of players.

"I'm told it wasn't the greatest spectacle but that's cup finals – sometimes and that means you just have to get the job done and we did that thankfully."

The Reds boss admitted he tried to take some credit for the winning Dylan bath goal and he was delighted the recent signing grabbed his first goal.

"It was really nice for him to break his duck in a cup final and it turn out to be the winning goal," he said. It looked like a decent strike but it took a bobble in front of the goalkeeper and I think I should take some credit for that as I hadn't managed to roll that goalmouth."

"I hope that Dylan's confidence will have been boosted not just by scoring his first goal for us but also in winning the man of the match award. He's been a key signing as we've won three of the four games he's been involved in and hopefully he'll have a similar influence on the team with just five league games remaining."

A healthy crowd of 275 turned up for the match and Goddard emphasised the importance of the competition with the proceeds raised all going to local charities:

"When we first came here we were rightly criticised when we crashed out of the cup with a heavy home defeat against local rivals Malpas," said Goddard.

"But last year we won the trophy and almost £3,000 was raised and I'm sure that figure will be surpassed this season as Wednesday night alone raised over £1,000. We've managed to win it again so I think in many ways the Ethelston Cup has been revived and that can only be good news for the wider community of the town."

Alport have another blank weekend this Saturday but pencilled in a friendly against mid-Cheshire league side Greenalls last night (Tuesday). They then face Telford next week 48 hours before their mouth watering league clash against title chasing City of Liverpool.

Goddard is looking forward to both matches but feels that the more important of the two is definitely the cup tie. He said: "We could be looking at gates in excess of 300 so from that point of view it will be great to see another large crowd packed into the ground.

"We will probably take the Telford match more seriously than the Liverpool one because it represents a great chance to move closer to a potential final against Shrewsbury Town.

"I don't know what sort of side Telford will bring here but I know it will have been a while since the two sides last met and hopefully they'll bring a few supporters with them.

"We'll go strong and try to account for a prized scalp and if we can do that it will stand us in good stead for the Liverpool game. With West Didsbury losing at the weekend it guarantees our Premier Division status so really it's irrelevant if we finish 14th or 13th.

"The main thing is we've managed to stay up with five games left and although there was a little bit of concern when we had our winter wobble, we've got back to looking like a solid North West Counties outfit.

"Defensively, we've been able to keep back-to-back clean sheets and protect our one goal advantage. That may not be particularly easy on the eye but it's a decent platform for us to build on."