Step 5/6 round-up: Whitchurch Alport suffer late winner in five-goal thriller
Whitchurch Alport suffered a late goal at high-flying Lichfield City to come out on the wrong end of their Midland League Premier Division five-goal thriller.
Jamie Elkes opened the scoring for the hosts after just eight minutes when the centre-back got in front of his marker to head home from a corner.
A back-and-forth contest saw both teams create chances and Alport finally equalised just before half-time when Callum Knowles finished into an empty net after goalkeeper James Beeson parried the ball into his path.
Despite that setback, Lichfield fired back immediately after the restart when Dan Lomas capitalised on Tom Brown's ball into the area to rifle the ball beyond goalkeeper Jack Sheward, to put the hosts ahead at half-time.
Just five minutes into the second half the ball fell to Harry Bower after a scramble in the box and he fired through the crowd and found the bottom corner to drag Alport level again.
Lichfield had a penalty in the 66th minute when Lomas was brought down in the area but the skipper blazed the spot kick over the bar.
But the hosts were not deterred and in the 75th minute Jack Edwards had the decisive kick with a low drilled shot from a tight angle that found the back of the net.
Lichfield are four points clear at the top of the table after another win, while Alport are fourth and 10 points behind them.
Elsewhere in the league, Shifnal Town continued to put pressure on the league leaders with their 2-0 win over Dudley Town.
Goals from Kevin Monteiro and Lewis Jarman, both inside the opening 10 minutes of the game, were enough to separate the sides.
In the Midland League Division One, AFC Bridgnorth continue to struggle at the wrong end of the table after a 1-0 loss at home to Leicester St Andrews.
Prior to that loss Bridgnorth had gone on a run of three straight league wins but with this defeat they sit 19th in the table and just one point outside the relegation zone.
In the North West Counties League Division One South, both Market Drayton Town and Shawbury United did not play, leaving Allscott Heath as the only local side featuring, as they fell to defeat at Wolves Sporting.
Goals in both halves from Mitch Lawley and Demetri Brown secured the win, leaving Allscott in the relegation zone.
In the Hellenic League Division One, Ludlow Town hosted Stonehouse Town.
The visitors had only lost once all season but Ludlow made it two at the weekend with a 3-1 victory.
A strike from Harry Jones and a Kieran Dovey brace secured all three points, leaving Ludlow seventh in the table and outside the promotion places by two points, with games in hand on teams around them.
