Whitchurch Alport head up the M6 this weekend to face a rejuvenated Charnock Richard side.

The match comes 48 hours before the Yockings Park men host Squires Gate in a rearranged league fixture.

Alport should have faced the Fylde coast club on Saturday but the pitch was flooded in many areas meaning there was no hope of staging the game.

It looked certain that the Irlam game scheduled for Monday would have been called off as well, but a gigantic effort on Sunday managed to clear excess water to enable the third versus fourth fixture to take place.

A 1-1 draw between the two teams did not alter their position in the league table and it was definitely a case of a point won rather than two dropped as Lea Edge assessed the performance:

"Tonight was all about not getting beat,” he said. “I thought our shape was very good throughout but we struggled to get any kind of foothold in the game until the last 20 minutes.

The introduction of Jonah (Steve Jones) and Cuffy (Joe Cuff) seemed to inject some belief into our lads and you can debate whether we deserved it or not, but we’ve managed to scrap out a point against a tough opponent.”

Edge is part of the backroom staff at Yockings and one thing you will always get from the former Malpas manager is honesty.

He said: “Offensively we weren’t quite as it tonight but that will come.

"We hadn’t played for nearly a fortnight and it’s really difficult when you don’t get the chance to build momentum.

"It seems like we’ve been stop start for a while now but we have a run of games coming up where we play twice on Saturday and Monday.

"We have to make the most of opportunities like those and make sure we can stay in among the leaders when we are still a long way from our best.”

Alport handed a debut to Dan Beddows and Edge was happy with his performance after signing from Market Drayton last week: “I’ve felt that we’ve needed a centre midfield player who does the horrible ugly stuff and Dan certainly falls into that category.

"Okay, he’s not match fit and of course we can’t afford to carry players but he needs games and I think he’ll fit in perfectly. We haven’t hit our best form yet and Dave Howarth is another who will do a job for us.

"Once he starts scoring goals – and he’s done that throughout his career consistently – the fans will appreciate what an asset he is.

"We had a terrific bench for tonight’s game (against Irlam) and the strength in the squad is very clear to see.

"We have a tough game this Saturday against Charnock Richard and they are always a difficult side to play against.

"Their danger man is Carl Grimshaw who has scored more than 400 goals for them and if you can keep him quiet it obviously improves your chances of a positive result.

"We’ll train on Thursday and prepare properly for this Saturday’s match as well as the Monday night game.”

Alport are at home this Monday against Squires Gate with a 7.45PM kick-off.

This means that the Sandbach United Ethelston Cup quarter-final will have to be rearranged.

Alport are grateful to the Cock & Greyhound in Bargates for sponsoring the game.