Rochdale Online Alliance Football League Report

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

Week 31 of the Rochdale Online Alliance Football League season was certainly a bitter sweet one for Balderstone as a President’s Cup semi final defeat, that was as emphatic as it was surprising, was followed by the news that their title hopes had been given a massive boost by FC Bury Town’s fourth league defeat of the campaign.

A little over twelve months ago Fothergill & Whittles third string upset Balderstone 2nds in the A&M Memorial Trophy final, and last Saturday’s upgraded version was Fothergill 2nds ousting Balderstone 1sts in the higher ranking of the league’s two cup competitions.

Balderstone went into the game as clear favourites to make their Premier Division status count, and for twenty minutes enjoyed the majority of possession as they pushed Fothergills back towards the edge of their own penalty area. Tellingly, they were unable to make this early advantage count and Fothergills’ ability to counter attack to maximum effect has been evident time and again this season as they head for the first division title.

Inside five devastating minutes White, Gibson and Collins all finished unerringly to leave Tony McCarroll’s side confounded and desperately in need of an immediate response. All they could manage was a Lee Feeney penalty, but not before White had extended his side’s lead even further, and it was 4-1 at the interval.

In amateur football a lot can happen in forty five minutes but Nick Sunderland’s side have a resilience to match their goalscoring ability, and a mainly uneventful second half was rounded off by further goals from Gibson and Collins as Fothergills recorded their best result of an outstanding season to date.

The second President’s Cup semi final on Saturday 26 April will be between Whitworth Valley and Sudden and whilst Valley will be favourites, the possibility of an all first division final cannot be discounted.

Sudden, however, will need to perform better than they did last weekend, as they escaped from Rawstron Street with all three league points against Valley’s second string, with three goals in time added on to turn a two goal deficit into a vital 4-3 win. They followed that up with another narrow win at Mighty Dragons in midweek while Fothergills overcame a spirited performance from bottom club Horse & Farrier at Matthew Moss.

Those results have surely ended Rochdale Asia’s hopes of promotion but they have the consolation of an A&M Memorial Trophy final appearance after a 4-1 semi final win over Chadderton Park at Firgrove.

Limmack gave Chadderton an early lead, and they enjoyed the better of the first half, but failed to add to their lead and were punished by a Rushton equaliser after a defensive lapse just before the break.

Hampered by the loss of their keeper through injury, Chadderton were pushed further back as the game progressed, and goals from Malik (2) and Aslam gave Asia a comfortable win.

The day’s only Sartori Sharpening Services Premier Division game was always going to be a challenge for the leaders FC Bury Town, as they travelled to Whittles Park to face an in form Fothergill & Whittles 1sts seeking a fourth successive league win to further their late climb to mid table respectability. And so it proved as goals from Webster (2), Morton and Platt gave Fothergills a 4-3 win that opens the door of the title race for both Balderstone and Whitworth Valley.

Interestingly, both have yet to go to Whittles Park themselves, and those games, along with Bury’s trip to Valley, will determine the winners of the most competitive title race for years.