Comfortable win for Badgers

Saturday October 4th

Capelli Sport MFL Premier Division

Brocton 3 Whitchurch Alport 0

Brocton started the game unchanged from last week’s defeat to Abbey Hulton, after a heavily rotated team lost to Hanley in the league cup in midweek. Whitchurch Alport arrived after consecutive 2-2 draws, most recently losing on penalties to 1874 Northwich in the cup.

The game started in scrappy fashion; it was the away side who played the better football, however they failed to threaten the Brocton box. After ten minutes, the hosts began to assert themselves on the game. Charlie King rounded the keeper only for Jack Sheward in the Whitchurch net to recover to make a brilliant save. Sheward was in action again, when Reg Smith beat the offside trap and squared the ball to Jude King, who saw his shot spectacularly saved, before Will Whieldon somehow blazed the rebound over the bar. The pressure finally told, as Christian Blanchette’s back post header was again saved by the keeper, but he was on hand to finish the rebound. Brocton continued to look dangerous, especially with Jude King on the left, who was only thwarted by the exceptional Sheward.

Half-time: Brocton 1 Whitchurch Alport 0

Brocton picked up where they left off in the second half. Blanchette picked the ball up on the edge of his own box and drove forward to the edge of the other, where Freddie Bishton was forced to trip him, picking up a yellow card in the process. Reg Smith fired the resulting free kick under the wall and just wide of the post. Smith remained dangerous and, five minutes later, smashed a shot just wide from a tight angle. It was Smith who doubled the advantage in the 62^nd minute, when a goal kick from Kyle Langston landed perfectly on the head of Will Whieldon, who delicately flicked the ball over the top for Smith. The Brocton marksman expertly lobbed the keeper, settling the nerves of all of a Brocton persuasion. Smith could have had a brace, however he could only hit the post with the keeper stranded. Only a minute later, Charlie King cut the ball back to Smith, who again saw his shot saved, only for Jude King to slot home the rebound. The flow of the game was disrupted by a late flurry of substitutions. Alport were scrappy in their play and failed to register a shot on target all afternoon, which made it very comfortable for the hosts. But for the heroics of the Alport keeper, it would have been a far more emphatic scoreline.

Full-Time: Brocton 3 Whitchurch Alport 0 Attendance: 141

Brocton: Kyle Langston, Christian Blanchette, Cooper Marsh, Kenny Devoir, Tom Vaughan, Charlie King, Will Whieldon (Ben Haddaway 79), Jake Thomas (Cam Osborne 79), Reg Smith (Morgan Payne 70), Connor Haddaway, Jude King (Dylan Millington 83). Subs (Not Used): Adam Weldon

Whitchurch Alport: Jack Sheward, George Carpenter, Braden Webb, Billy West, Freddie Bishton, Ewan Turner (Lennon Billingham 59), Charlie Edge (Charlie Warrilow 59), Adam Jasper (Josh Davis-Sewell 77), Ollie Holden (Ben Wallis 77), Tom McNally (Peter Osei 83), Tom Meesham

Yellow Cards: Freddie Bishton (Whitchurch Alport)

Report by Matthew Bottomley