Tuesday 26th November 2019, NWCFL First Division South

West 4 (Holt 59, Grimshaw 73, Cottee 75, 90+4)
Alsager Town 1 (Archer 78, Waite-Jackson sent off 82)
Att: 152

West registered a second comprehensive victory over Alsager Town in the space of a month to secure three valuable points.

Seventeen days after a 6-1 win over the same opponents in the Macron Cup, West racked up more goals against the beleaguered Bullets who again finished with ten men on a night of déjà vu.

Another rout did not appear to be on the cards during a first half in which the visitors had the best half-chances, but West were a team transformed after the break and Kris Holt and Lee Grimshaw found the net before a James Cottee brace.

The Bullets, winless since the end of September, threatened early on and could have taken the lead inside the first five minutes when a cross from the right was fired wide at the near post. Five minutes later, a shot from the edge of the box was narrowly off-target as West struggled to settle.

But Brad Cooke’s side did slowly begin to make an impression on the match, with George Blackwell delivering a series of tempting corners and Grimshaw having a shot pawed away by Alsager keeper James McClenaghan. The chance of the half came the way of the visitors, though, when a cross from the right evaded a touch at the far post by a matter of inches.

West turned up the intensity after the restart and when intricate play on the edge of the box resulted in Kris Holt running through on goal, the captain coolly slotted home his second goal of the season.

This was the start of a flurry of activity that saw West take the game away from the Bullets – Grimshaw and Dylan Moloney forced saves from McClenaghan before the former found the net following a neat combination between Josh Tinker and Cottee.

Substitute Cottee added his name to the scoresheet seconds after Grimshaw’s goal, acrobatically nodding the impressive Matty Argent-Barnes’ cross low into the bottom corner, though Alsager did temporarily stem the flow when George Archer caught the West defence out to pull a goal back.

But the game was up for the Bullets and Kazim Waite-Jackson cut a frustrated figure in the closing moments when he picked up a needless straight red card for kicking out at Matt Cook. And Cottee finished proceedings with a flourish with the final action of the game, winning a penalty and then sending McClenaghan the wrong way from the spot.

West: A. Jones, Cooper, Cook, Tinker, Forbes, Eckersley, Argent-Barnes, Holt (C. Jones 77), Grimshaw (Boland 77), Moloney (Cottee 66), Blackwell. Not used: Middleton.