Sandbach United secured a league double over local rivals Alsager Town with a 2-1 victory at Wood Park - but the winning side's manager commended The Bullets for their organised performance.

Manager Declan Swan was presented with a selection headache ahead of his sides short trip to Alsager, with in-form George West succumbing to an illness that ruled him out of a return to his old club.

Louis Johnson, Harry Cain, Callum Chapman and Will Booth were also unavailable, whilst Liam Fitzpatrick was unable to play through suspension.

Nevertheless, determined to ensure his side remained in the playoffs for another game week, it was an attacking Sandbach team that took to the field on a cold Saturday afternoon.

Sandbach started as the brighter side, with a cruel bobble from the weathered pitch taking the ball away from December NWCFL South Player of the Month Kieran Alley as he moved to shoot.

Further efforts from Stanley Tatters and Robbie Hatton were kept away from the Alsager goal as Sandbach looked to go ahead.

The visitors deservedly took the lead in the 29th minute after a period of sustained pressure, with Robbie Hatton providing the breakthrough.

After tireless work on the ball, he broke into the Alsager 18-yard box and fired a wicked left-footed shot on target. Despite the tightness of the angle, the strike flew over Bullets goalkeeper Martin Blain and smashed off the underside of the crossbar, bouncing over the line to put Sandbach in front.

Sandbach were mere inches away from doubling their lead seven minutes later, as a powerful shot hit both post and goalkeeper before veering towards the line.

The ball tantalisingly spun on the goal-line before being hooked away by a desperate Alsager defence before Alley saw a low effort saved by Blain only minutes later.

Sandbach resumed their dominance in the second half and were unlucky not to get on the end of a fantastic Josh Oultram cross to grab a second only eight minutes after the restart.

Oultram then saw a speculative overhead kick saved, before defender Kieran O'Connell dragged a low shot wide of the far post from 20 yards.

Alsager almost equalised in the 80th minute after a strong counter-attack presented the hosts with a glorious shooting opportunity, but a goal-saving block from Lewis Barker prevented what appeared to be a certain goal.

The home side were hunting an equaliser entering the last ten minutes of regulation time, sensing an opportunity to steal a result after some wasteful Sandbach finishing.

That goal arrived in the 81st minute, after Tom Hassall capitalised on a glorious goal-scoring chance to tuck home and offer his side an unlikely lifeline.

Despite momentum shifting from Sandbach to Alsager, it was the Ramblers who scored the decisive goal only two minutes after the leveller.

Substitute Brian Barton caused complete chaos in the Alsager defence with some tricky play, and his shot on target looked to be in before a Bullets attempted clearance ricocheted off another Alsager player and trickled over their own goal-line.

The hosts were far from out of the contest despite time working against them and forced Ramblers goalkeeper Eric Merner into a superb one-handed save in additional time to keep his side in front before the full-time whistle blew.

Speaking after the game, Swan said "We should have made it 2, 3 or 4-0 before half-time. They were very organised and had a clear game plan.

"I would have liked it to be a little more comfortable but I'm happy with our boys for getting their heads up, going down the other end and getting a goal. That shows good resilience and resolve, and we deserved the win overall in the end".

Sandbach remain in 4th place after their winning result was matched by the teams immediately around them in the league table, whilst Alsager also remain in 17th with Stafford Town suffering a heavy defeat at Stockport Town.