Nantwich Town claim Eddie Morris Trophy with win over Whitchurch

Second-half - second Dabbers goal - penalty - Byron Harrison sends the keeper the wrong way (1)

Nantwich Town claimed the Eddie Morris Memorial Trophy with a 2-1 win over Whitchurch Alport in their first pre-season friendly at the KMJ Mortgages Stadium.

And the performance should provide hope for Dabbers manager Paul Carden ahead of the new season.

With a mixture of trialists and new signings, from the start of the game Nantwich looked to impose themselves on their hosts.

Ollie Holden, a player from the youth team making his first senior appearance, had the first shot on goal which was comfortably saved.

In the 12th minute, after a period of sustained possession by the visitors, the ball reached Perry Bircumshaw.

He cut in from the touchline and curled a shot perfectly into the top corner of the net for the first goal of the pre-season campaign.

First-half - Dabbers on the attack (3) (1) — First-half – Dabbers on the attack

Soon after, he almost set up the second goal of the game as he put in a wonderful delivery that Saunders almost tapped in to make it two, but he just couldn’t make contact on the wet and windy conditions.

Whitchurch created chances of their own, which the trialist keeper for Nantwich was doing well to keep them at bay.

On 38 minutes, after a mistake at the back, Hughes levelled for hosts after against the run of play to make it 1-1 at half-time.

The Dabbers made substitutions which saw Cockerline, Hughes, and Sherratt come on to get some game time.

Both teams saw opportunities come to nothing as the offside flag was raised, including a great lob finish by Cockerline who seemed to time his run just about right.

With 20 minutes to go there was a moment of brilliance from Bircumshaw.