Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

With Woodbank’s home game against in form Walsden called off late on Saturday morning, much to the chagrin of the in form away side, a golden opportunity was presented to both Fothergill & Whittles and White Lion to close the gap on the current leaders of the Sartori Sharpening Services Premier Division.

At Kingsway Sports Centre White Lion did just that as they recorded their first away win in the league at bottom club Balderstone. Three games and three draws had been Mark Horner’s side’s record on the road but they survived the shock of going behind in the twelfth minute to record a comfortable enough victory in the final analysis.

Balderstone manager Nathan Agg had, yet again, to spend all morning getting a team together after another spate of late cry offs and he was rewarded for his efforts by the bare eleven he was able to field, including himself, as they competed with great spirit and no little skill for the entire ninety minutes. Indeed, had Sam Butterworth, who led the line with pace and intelligence, finished off a chance he created for himself in the seventieth minute, that would have reduced the deficit to just one goal, who knows how the final twenty minutes might have unfolded.

As it was Lion had taken a 4-1 lead into the interval, and missed a penalty into the bargain, as skipper Ste Cass ran the midfield with his tireless work rate and quality of distribution.

Horner made changes to key personnel at the break and Balderstone were back in the game when Agg’s free kick was deflected on its way in just three minutes into the second half.

Lion then had a string of chances to secure the points but were thwarted by resilient defending and an inspired display from Ashley Jones in the Balderstone goal before a fifth goal arrived on seventy six minutes to finally end the home side’s resistance.

Two more goals in the final five minutes added a gloss to the result as Lion moved to within a point of Woodbank at the top.

Currie 2, Whalley 2, Bowe, Howe and Lee were the Lion scorers and they now travel to mid table Falcon this weekend with the opportunity to go top as Woodbank are involved in cup action.

But for a very poor start to the season, Sudden would no doubt be contesting the title with the leading pack and they completed a fourth successive victory with a 5-2 win at Matthew Moss that puts a dent in Fothergill & Whittles hopes of that title come the end of season.

Referee Gordon Schofield was of the opinion he has never seen this Sudden side play as well they did last Saturday as goals from Iqbal 2, McKenzie, Knight and Needham gave them a richly deserved victory.

Whilst the gap between themselves and the current top two realistically has to be unbridgeable none of the title chasers will relish their games to come against a side playing as well as Sudden currently are.

For Nick Sunderland’s Fothergill side the defeat is damaging, rather than fatal, to their own hopes of league silverware, and they once again received high praise from a match official for their conduct and sportsmanship both on and off the field.

Clubs who play the game in the true spirit of amateur football are somewhat of an endangered species these days, yet Fothergill continue to do so, across the club, week in and week out.

As the title race moves into its final phase, the league table suggests a four horse race, and the tightest finish in years, with Woodbank, White Lion, Fothergill and Walsden the main protagonists.

The fixture list makes White Lion the favourites as they have only one game left to play against the other three top sides, Fothergill (A), whilst Fothergill themselves have five out of eight, Walsden four out of eight and Woodbank four out of six.

However, if you factor Sudden into the equation, with games against White Lion
(H and A) and Walsden (A), and acknowledge that sometimes the form book counts for very little, then only a brave or foolhardy individual would say now just who is going to be champions come May.

The picture in the Matthew Montgomery & Co First Division is somewhat clearer as a bad day for the Fothergill club got even worse with news that the second team’s hopes of the title and/or promotion had been dealt a devastating blow by a totally unexpected
2-3 home defeat to... Fothergill & Whittles Rovers.

Sam Duggan, Josh Mitchell and the Club Secretary himself, Craig Smith, scored the goals that would appear to have all but handed the title to leaders Mighty Dragons, whose home game against Horse & Farrier was called off.

With just five games to play, including an away fixture at Dragons, the best points tally Fothergill can achieve now is thirty nine, which means Dragons require another thirteen points from games against Wardle OB (H and A), Horse & Farrier (H), Chadderton Park (A), Falcon 2nds (A), Hargreaves (A) and Fothergills 2nds (H).

Elsewhere, the division’s surprise side, Chadderton Park, are up to second after a
2-1 home win over Wardle OB thanks to goals from Eastwood and Ogden. Next up for them at Clayton are Mighty Dragons this Saturday, whilst Falcon 2nds picked up their first point in eleven games after sharing eight goals with Hargreaves at Littleborough Sports Centre.