Rochdale Online Alliance Football League Report

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

Three sets of crucial Rochdale Online Alliance Football League fixtures in ten days saw Mighty Dragons crowned Matthew Montgomery & Co Division One champions and Fothergill & Whittles emerge as clear favourites to claim a first ever Sartori Sharpening Services Premier Division title.

Goals from Gibson and Wallis earned Dragons a hard fought 2-1 midweek victory at Falcon 2nds, and they followed this up with a 10-1 thrashing of Horse & Farrier, with Mike Cahill claiming no less than eight of the goals, to fire themselves eleven points clear of runners up Chadderton Park.

Cahill’s goals make him favourite to claim the Division One leading goalscorer award, though Wayne Attwood would probably have settled for just a couple from him on Wednesday night as Hargreaves secured a 1-0 victory to prevent Dragons from finishing the season with an unblemished league record.

A magnificent achievement from the Hollinwood based outfit, in just their second season in the league, and they will now be all out to emulate Fothergills 2nds league and cup double twelve months ago, with a President’s Cup Quarter Final tie against Falcon to come.

Fothergill 2nds agreed to reverse their fixture with Chadderton Park, and were left to rue that decision, as six goal Andy Eastwood fired Chadderton to a 7-1 win that secures runners up spot behind Dragons.

A midweek win over closest rivals Walsden, followed by an equally narrow home win over Falcon, means Fothergill & Whittles now require two points from their remaining two games against Rochdale Asia (H) and Woodbank (A) to clinch a first Premier Division crown.

Two goals down to Walsden early in the second period Nick Sunderland’s side battled back to win with goals from White, Johnson and Collins, and it took a late winner from Greenwood to see off a determined Falcon outfit at Whittles Park just three days later.

Walsden’s midweek 5-3 win over Falcon assures them of the runners up spot at least, whilst Woodbank can still edge out White Lion for third place, but only if they win their remaining two games against Fothergills (H) as mentioned and Rochdale Sacred Heart (A).

Rochdale Asia finally overcame Rochdale Galaxy by the odd goal in eleven, after an astonishing ninety minutes on the 3G at Kingsway Sports Centre, to take their place in the last eight of The President’s Cup and an away tie against the lowest ranked side left in the competition, F&W Rovers.

Asia were two up inside seven minutes, through Rushton and Omar Malik, only to then concede three goals in three minutes to find themselves 3-2 down after just thirteen minutes. Rigby then added a fourth for Galaxy after half an hour, only for Alwarfarli and Malik to restore parity by the end of a breathless first half.

With sanity restored after the break, and both sides looking like they had run out of a little bit of steam, a needless challenge on Malik nine minutes from time gave Asia the chance to regain the lead from the penalty spot.

Rushton then scored his second of the game with a tremendous strike from all of thirty yards to finally settle a wonderfully contested game, with Galaxy’s fifth goal from Sarwar nothing more than consolation deep into time added on.

Galaxy can take great heart from a performance that can only stand them in good stead for their forthcoming A&M Memorial Trophy final against Fothergill & Whittles 2nds, and they are without doubt one of the most improved sides in the league this season.

Saturday gives Fothergill their first chance to glean the two points they need as they travel to Nuttall Park to take on Woodbank, whilst Firgrove sees the first Chairman’s Cup semi final between Walsden and Rochdale Asia.