Jack Sheward's triple shoot-out heroics inspire Whitchurch Alport to FA Vase victory
Jack Sheward saved three penalties as Whitchurch Alport progressed to the FA Vase third round with a 3-1 shoot-out victory over Coalville Town at Yockings Park.
Coalville took the lead on 21 minutes when Ronnie Morley wriggled through the Alport defence to finish beyond the outstretched hand of Sheward.
Alport came close to an equaliser before half-time when Harry Bower's goal bound strike was superbly thwarted by Coalville goalkeeper Tomasz Bukowski.
Ollie Holden hauled Alport level just three minutes after the restart when he pounced to convert Ellis Turner's parried shot.
Coalville caught Alport on the counter-attack to restore their lead just past the hour when Tom Mangan applied a calm finish past the onrushing Sheward.
But Craig Pritchard levelled the contest seven minutes later with a superb curling effort from just inside the area.
Callum Knowles hit the post at the death but Sheward emerged as the hero in the shoot-out to help secure Alport's passage into the next round.
Market Drayton Town conceded three goals in the final 10 minutes to fall to a 3-1 home defeat against Bourne Town in the FA Vase.
Isaac Shaw opened the scoring for Market Drayton on the cusp of half-time and they still boasted a slender one-goal advantage heading into the closing stages.
But Robbie Ellis, Brad Marshall and Zac Allen all scored within the space of five minutes to condemn Market Drayton to a gut-wrenching defeat.
Shifnal Town propelled themselves to within two points of the Midland Premier Division play-offs with a 2-1 victory on the road at Uttoxeter Town.
Town were awarded a penalty inside 45 seconds when Kev Monteiro was brought down inside the box. He duly converted the resulting spot-kick to provide Shifnal with an early lead.
Joe Thomas came close late in the first half when his effort was tipped over by Uttoxeter goalkeeper Xander Parke. But Uttoxeter equalised midway into the second half when Haydn Brown capitalised on some sloppy defending to fire home.
Kyle Byrne broke Uttoxeter hearts in the dying stages with a dramatic stoppage time winner to secure a third straight away success for Shifnal.
In Division One, AFC Bridgnorth climbed out of the relegation zone after extending their winning streak to three games with a 2-0 success at Chelmsley Town.
Bridgnorth had lost 13 of their opening 16 games (drawing three) but continued their rich vein of form to make it five straight wins in all competitions.
Shawbury United sit second from bottom in the North West Counties League Division One South after losing 2-1 at home to Runcorn Town.
Jorge Dwyer opened the scoring for Runcorn inside 19 minutes before Thomas Ruffer doubled their lead from the spot just after the hour-mark.
Marc Stallard halved the deficit five minutes from time but was unable to prevent Shawbury from extending their winless run to seven league games (losing four, drawing three).
Ludlow Town climbed to within three points of the Hellenic League Division One play-offs with a 2-0 victory at Tytherington Rocks.
Goals from Harry Jones and Sean Evans guided the Knights to a second league win in three games to propel them into sixth-place.