North West Counties League

Division One

Whitchurch Alport 5

Daisy Hill 0

There was a party atmosphere for Whitchurch Alport on Saturday as the Reds swept aside bottom-of-the-table Daisy Hill at Yockings Park.

Fans and committee members donned fancy dress to help lift spirits at the club, which has seen its fair share of bad news in recent weeks, following media officer Martin Wild's spinal injury and a recent heart scare for Carl Everall.

With the sun shining, a crowd of 203 – most in fancy dress – turned out to see the Reds put on a five-star showing against a team fighting for its life at the bottom of the table.

The win also ends a recent run of indifferent results for Luke Goddard's men as their minds turn towards the end-of-season play-offs.

Goddard named himself in the starting XI and was given a huge boost after 11 minutes when an own goal gave Whitchurch the lead.

Skipper Si Everall grabbed the first of his two goals of the afternoon on 27 minutes when he fired home into the roof of the net to give Alport some breathing space.

Five minutes later, it was 3-0 as Everall doubled his own tally for the day with a fine finish.

Nicky Porter then added to the carnival atmosphere of the day when he added a fourth five minutes later with a scintillating volley to leave the Alport faithful rubbing their eyes.

And the demolition job was completed on the stroke of half-time when Sean Griffiths powered home a superb header to give Alport a 5-0 lead going into the break.

It meant the Reds could preserve their energy ahead of some tough clashes to come and the second period passed without note, other than a booking for Joseph Howell on the 80th minute.

Number nine Everall was given the man-of-the-match for a dominant performance leading the line for Goddard's men, who needs one more win to beat 2016/17's total of 26.

Alport headed to Prestwich Heys last night and although the Reds are six points behind their Greater Manchester opponents, a win would have cut the gap to three points and strengthen their advantage for the play-offs.

On Saturday, Alport face another of the bottom two and a side fighting for their life in Nelson. The east Lancashire side are, at the time of going to print, two points behind St Helens Town and the game starts at 3pm.

nAll at The Herald send best wishes to Martin Wild and Carl Everall. Martin is making progress, which is being updated on his Facebook page; donate at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/martinwild