Whitchurch Alport have bowed out of a second national cup competition in as many weeks with barely a whimper following a 2-0 defeat to Littleton in the FA Vase.

Littleton were full value for victory in the qualifier with visiting goalkeeper, Toby Wilcox, hardly tested all afternoon.

Despite being without the services of many first-team players, Alport’s home advantage and higher league standing should have seen them through.

But once Callum Debar had fired Littleton into a 30th minute lead, they never looked likely to relinquish it.

When a second goal arrived 10 minutes from time, with Jade Ferron capitalising on sloppiness in Reds’ possession, it merely served to rub salt into Alport’s open wound.

The start of the new NWCFL league season is now just 11 days away, perhaps the biggest concern for boss Luke Goddard and his backroom staff is that in both their back to back defeats Alport have failed to register a goal and have offered nowhere near enough protection for their goalkeepers.

Assistant manager, Steve May, felt his players didn’t show enough character on the day.

“Players can’t just stroll around the place thinking they’ve made it because they are wearing a Whitchurch Alport tracksuit,” he said.

“I knew we were going to be in for a battle.

“When I turned up at the ground their lads were all taking photographs of the stadium and they clearly fancied it more than we did.

“If things don’t go our way and we fall behind there isn’t enough character within the side to dig us out. The fans didn’t deserve that today because at times it looked like we were giving the bare minimum.

“We need to be more resilient and mentally stronger if we are to turn things around.”