Rochdale Online Alliance Football League Report

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

A Saturday to celebrate for the leaders of the respective divisions in the Rochdale Online Alliance Football League as action both on and off the pitch enabled Woodbank and Mighty Dragons to open significant points gaps between themselves and their nearest challengers.

Bottom hosted top in the Sartori Sharpening Services Premier Division and Balderstone’s best performance of the season saw them come close to recording their first point(s) before goals from Havens, Jackson and O’Malley gave Woodbank victory by the odd goal in five.

A salutary lesson to clubs who fail to confirm their home games with the appointed match official as second placed Rochdale Sacred Heart had to provide their own referee for their game with third placed Fothergill & Whittles at Firgrove.

A far from satisfactory state of affairs for the league and for Hearts’ manager Tony Kershaw who had to take the whistle himself and earned high praise for his performance from watching League Vice Chairman Trevor Winn, a man who has watched a game or two in his time.

The match itself lived up to expectations as four goals from Fothergill’s John Platt earned him the man-of-the-match award, but not all three points for his team, as Holland, Nash, Lyons and Booth scored for Hearts, ending Fothergill’s one hundred per cent record in the process.

Walsden’s impressive resurgence continued apace as they ended White Lion’s unbeaten record with a 5-3 win at Bowlee courtesy of goals from Brierley 2, Town, Sutcliffe and Brown. Lion replied through Campbell, Wolstenholme and Lord and have an immediate opportunity for revenge as the two sides meet again this weekend in a game switched from Walsden Rec to Firgrove.

In the day’s final top flight game promoted Sudden recorded their first league win of the season at the fifth attempt as Holmes, Lewis and McKenzie scored the goals that proved too much for faltering Falcon at Littleborough Sports Centre.

You have to go back to the 16 November 2013 for Fothergill & Whittles 2nds last defeat, their unbeaten run since then bringing them both the Matthew Montgomery & Co Division 1 title and The President’s Cup. However, Sabar Ansari’s revitalised Rochdale Galaxy side travelled to Whittles Park a fortnight ago and earned a merited 2-2 draw in the A&M Trophy, and they were back there last Saturday to go one better and record a 3-2 win in the league that ends that magnificent run by the Littleborough based outfit.

The defeat enabled Mighty Dragons to maintain their three point lead at the top and now Fothergills have lost that game in hand, making the league meeting between the sides in a month’s time even more crucial.

Wardle OB are up to fourth after a 2-1 win over Falcon 2nds at Firgrove, Howarth and Dewhurst their scorers.

Hargreaves were predictably too strong for Horse & Farrier at Redvales, their half dozen coming from Wilcock 2, Eardley, Sellars, Carey and Allen.

A rare winless day for the Fothergill’s club was confirmed at Greenvale as Grant 2 and Eastwood fired improving Chadderton Park to a comfortable 3-0 win over F&W Rovers.