Whitchurch Alport ease to victory but boss Shillcock wants more

Goals from Nicky Parker, Harry Bower and Ollie Holden gave Alport their sixth win of the season and moved them eight points clear of the relegation zone.

And while the Alport boss admitted he was happy to pick up the three points, he was left wanting more from his players against the team bottom of the division.

“It was always going to be hard-fought,” Shillcock said. “When sides are down there and have a lot of changes going on it makes them dangerous, it makes them unpredictable because you don’t know what you’re going to get on the day.”

He added: “I look at it as a game of two halves, yes we’ve won the game 3-0 and kept a clean sheet, but we were fluid in the first half and kept the ball well.

“And in the second half fair play to them, they came out and gave us a game and worked harder than us so credit to them.

“But a win is a win, it’s what we needed after the Christmas period, so we have to take the positives from that.”

It took just 27 minutes for returning star Parker to find the net for Alport, and Shillcock admitted it has been a long time coming for the forward.

“Since I’ve been at the football club I’ve been asked every single week whether Nicky is coming back and everything is always a case of timing,” the Alport manager said. “Nicky hasn’t played a lot or trained a lot, but we know what he can bring to this football club, and it adds healthy competition to the group.”

Elsewhere, Shifnal Town lost ground on the play-off places after a 1-0 loss at second-placed Lichfield City.

The visitors started the game well and went closest to opening the scoring in the first half as chances from Jordan Jones and Kyle Bennett went begging.

But shortly after half-time, Jack Edwards took the ball on the Lichfield left wing, cut inside and fired a strike past Yankuba Colley for the only goal of the game.

The visitors struggled to break down a resolute Lichfield defence and left with nothing, leaving them five points outside the top five in eighth place.

In Division One, Allscott Heath beat Paget Rangers 2-1 thanks to goals from Connor Courtney and Harry Morris.

Cameron Lyness scored AFC Bridgnorth’s only goal in a 6-1 defeat at home to OJM Black Country, while Shawbury United beat Sutton United 3-1.

And in the North West Counties League Division One South, Market Drayton Town were thrashed 6-2 at home to Sandbach United.

George Burslem had put the hosts a goal up after three minutes, before Sandbach raced into a 2-1 lead shortly after half-time.

Seydou Bamba restored parity after 61 minutes, but four goals in the last 15 minutes condemned Market Drayton to another heavy defeat.