FA Cup Preliminary Round

Coleshill Town 0

Whitchurch Alport 3

Whitchurch Alport ripped up the form book by winning easily at Coleshill on Saturday.

The home side were clear favourites to progress and although Alport’s victory was hardly the biggest shock ever in the FA Cup, it will still have raised a few eyebrows in non-league circles.

The home side were rocked early as Alport dominated throughout this tie, winning by an unflattering scoreline.

Once Alex Hughes gave the Reds an advantage after a first half drinks break, Whitchurch never looked back and were in cruise control from that moment. Steve Jones weaved his magic down the left hand side and it looked like the defender had got lucky.

But Alport’s top scorer chested the ball down and blasted it high into the net. After that, the Reds sat back a little, but far from inviting on their higher league opponent, they simply soaked everything up and frustrated Coleshill who all of a sudden knew they were in for a difficult afternoon.

When the goalkeeper was sent off for handball outside the area it led to an outfield player taking the gloves and Alport went for the jugular.

With 20 minutes to go and Alport still holding a slender advantage, they doubled their lead with a fine team goal. Lee Pickerill started the move and when Jud Ellis pulled the ball back tight to the line, there was Dylan Bath to knock the ball into an empty net from just a few yards out.

As if that was not bad enough for the tiring hosts, they then had to contend with Joe Cuff for the last 15 minutes and he is like a whippet when his legs are fresh. True to form, the former Stafford Rangers man made it three with a fine finish after yet another Coleshill defender was left for dead.

The home side trooped off ruing the fact that they had gone out of the cup, but even if they had been on top of their game that might not have been good enough. Whitchurch Alport just keep getting better and better and who knows how far they can go in the world’s most famous competition?