"Do you remember me?" inquires an elderly woman preemptively as she opens her glass-panelled door. "I was your 11.20 a.m. appointment last Friday."
Dr David Alderdice, a dermatologist at Belfast City Hospital, is momentarily taken aback. "You're a patient? Ah, I remember now. How are things clearing up?"
After doctor-patient exchanges, she proceeds to describe herself as "a dying breed - southern Protestant" and a onetime active member of the UUP. But she was in a "quandary" and might vote Alliance because she knew nothing about the UUP candidate, Mr Tim Lemon.
"Join the club", replies the 34year-old former Lord Mayor of Belfast as he passes her his pamphlet, which is printed on lemon paper. She still seems to be in a bit of a quandary.
An eight-strong group of party supporters on the evening canvass was making swift progress, each equipped with a map of the Beechgrove area of Castlereagh. The canvass co-ordinator, Ms Naomi Long, assigned every worker house numbers and corresponding family names.
In fine Northern Irish tradition, surnames are always a helpful indicator of possible political persuasions. "Somebody called Murphy in this area is unlikely to be a DUP Peter Robinson supporter", says Dr Alderdice.
Mr Rodgers in No 26 tells Dr Alderdice that the Belfast Agreement was "badly negotiated", but he pledges to "try to help" the Alliance Party's non-sectarian approach. Dr Alderdice is upbeat: "We can topple Peter Robinson from his perch."
The party hoped an electoral pact with the UUP would see the relatively unknown Tim Lemon stand aside for Dr Alderdice, the brother of the Assembly Speaker and former party leader, Lord Alderdice, to give him a clear run against the anti-agreement DUP incumbent.
"It's still a possibility, and we've told the UUP the posters are not a problem, we'll help them take them down", he says.
On the doorsteps, a party councillor, Ms Sara Duncan, stresses the local issues, including traffic congestion at the Forestside shopping complex.
But one woman tells her she hates the "hype" surrounding elections. "Are you more likely to vote for a candidate that calls to your door?" Ms Duncan inquires. "No", the woman replies bluntly.
Ms Duncan is hoping to be reelected to the Castlereagh borough for another four years. "I don't know why. It's the council Peter and Iris are king and queen in, but we do stand up to them - ask Patrick", she said.
Mr Patrick Mitchell, an elderly party councillor in the borough, is stepping down after 12 years. He brims with pride recounting how the RUC was called to escort him from a council meeting last year after a verbal joust with the DUP.
The party workers report back to Ms Long on their success rate. "No 16 is completely disenchanted with politics", says one worker. "No 24 - typical unionist, takes the literature with one hand while closing the door with the other." A third canvasser returned with a spring in his step. "A definite - in fact there's a whole house full of Alliance voters."
Ms Long said results were positive, with returns estimating between 30 and 40 per cent support for Dr Alderdice. "It was a good night's work."