THERE was a degree of relief in the Whitchurch Alport camp when Saturday’s league game at Lichfield was called off.

The second placed hosts have yet to taste defeat in any of their 13 games and sit tightly on the coattails of Hanley Town who were expected to win the title given the size of their budget.

The postponement came as something of a surprise given that Lichfield’s ground has a 4G surface and yet it appeared that little was done to get the pitch ready in time for the match.

Alport were given the option to travel but with afternoon forecasts suggesting heavy rain, Lichfield advised it was best to err on the side of caution as lying snow was still on the pitch and yet to be cleared.

Manager, Luke Goddard, was not too disappointed that the game was off.

“We were a little shy on numbers if I’m to be honest,” he said.

“Alex Hughes was serving a one match ban as he had collected five yellow cards which incurred a suspension and Ivan [Urvantev] would have been rested as he struggled to get 90 minutes in last week in the Vase cup tie.”

Alport have a fantastic record on artificial surfaces with only one competitive defeat during Goddard’s time at the club.

But the Reds’ supremo is now focusing solely on two matches within a four-day period.

“We have Highgate United at the KMJ on Saturday then Tuesday we have a TJ Vickers Cup semi-final against AFC Bridgnorth.

"We’ll play a mixture of first teamers and under 18’s which will give the youngsters an opportunity to experience playing in a cup tie with a fantastic reward at the end if we come through the tie.”

The semi-final is being played at Greenfields, the home of Market Drayton Town.