Whitchurch Alport exit FA Vase after blowing two-goal lead
Whitchurch Alport blew a two-goal lead in their 3-2 defeat at Whitstable Town as they missed out on the chance to reach the FA Vase semi-finals for the first time in their history.
They hit the front inside nine minutes when Callum Knowles pounced on a rebound from Luca Whitney's shot to find the bottom corner with a precise finish.
Harry Bower capitalised on an error from veteran centre-back Jamie Coyle to score with a thumping corner from close-range in the 18th-minute.
Whitstable quickly halved the deficit when Ronald Sithole escaped the offside trap to crash an emphatic finish beyond Alport goalkeeper Jack Sheward.
The hosts moved into the ascendency and came within a lick of paint away from an equaliser when Connor Wilkins saw his effort cannon off the crossbar.
Nathan Jeche restored parity with 18 minutes to go when the Whitstable debutant calmly rounded Sheward and rolled the ball into the empty net in front of a club record crowd of 2,656.
The tie looked destined to be going to a shoot-out until Whitstable captain Jake McIntyre was tripped by substitute Harry Farnsworth inside the box in the final minute of normal time.
Harvey Smith was denied from the spot by Sheward but kept his calm to convert the rebound and send Whitstable into the final four. Things went from bad to worse for Whitchurch when Bower was shown a second yellow card deep into stoppage time.
AFC Bridgnorth climbed eight points clear of the Midland League Division One relegation zone after drawing 2-2 at Coventry Copsewood.
The Meadow Men came from behind to lead 2-1 heading into the dying stages until Eden Mukenge equalised from the spot with the final kick off the ball.
In the North West Division One South, Market Drayton Town were beaten 3-1 at home by Ashville.
Peter Morgan put the visitors ahead on the cusp of half-time before Raul Bisong equalised for Market Drayton just past the hour-mark.
Joel Kelly restored Ashville's advantage within two minutes and Mark Madden put the seal on the win from the spot with 15 minutes left.
Allscott Heath sit three points adrift of safety after succumbing to a fourth successive defeat, losing 3-0 against Alsager Town on home soil.
Alsager took 71 minutes to finally break Allscott's resistance when Adam Dahou opened the scoring and Jamie Walker doubled their lead four minutes from time.
Ashton Brogan put the icing on the cake with a third in the final minute as Allscott suffered their eighth defeat in 11 games to leave them in 18th.
Second from bottom Shawbury United ended a run of four games without a win by beating Barnton 1-0 at Carrandine Road.
Marc Stallard scored the decisive goal just before half-time to send Shawbury to within six points of safety, with a game in hand.
Ludlow Town booked their place in the Marsh Challenge Cup, beating Bewdley Town 5-4 on penalties, after drawing 2-2 courtesy of goals from Kieran Dovey and Cameron Marsh.
