Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

White Lion have been crowned winners of their first ever Premier Division title, and deservedly so, following a season in which they have been beaten just once on the field of play.

Whilst Falcon’s failure to fulfil their fixture last Saturday gave Lion an unassailable lead at the top, Lion have been far and away the best side this season, with a narrow defeat at Rochdale Sacred Heart in the group stage of the Chairman’s Cup their only reverse. Having secured the title with a game to play they can now concentrate on a potential league and cup double ahead of their rearranged Chairman’s Cup final against Fothergill & Whittles on Friday 13 May.

Fothergill & Whittles face Falcon 2nds in the first of this weekend’s President’s Cup semi finals, with Rochdale Sacred Heart playing Wardle OB in the second. Both games are at Firgrove with the winners progressing to the final at Spotland on Monday 16 May.

Fothergill are there courtesy of a narrow 3-2 win over DivisionOne champions, and A&M Trophy winners, Rochdale Asia at Kingsway Sports Centre last Saturday.

Asia were aiming to go through the season with a perfect playing record that would land them an historic treble, but they finally succumbed to their Premier Division opponents with virtually the last kick of the game.

Fothergill were ahead early in the eagerly anticipated last eight tie, but Asia are lethal on the break and Rushton equalised on thirteen minutes after he latched on to a through ball and cleverly lifted it over the advancing Grindrod.

The game then developed a clear pattern with Fothergill enjoying the majority of possession without really troubling Perez in the Asia goal, whilst Asia, by no means near their fluent best, were dangerous on the counter attack through the clever running of Rushton and the division’s top scorer, Omar Malik.

With extra time looking the likeliest outcome Asia struck on the break with nine minutes to play, only to be pegged back as Fothergill skipper Danny Armitage curled home a twenty yard free kick just five minutes later.

A game played in the right spirit was then marred by an incident early into time added on when Osama Alwarfarli needlessly kicked out in front of assistant referee Alex Johnston and was dismissed by referee Mike Willmore. The ensuing melee only served to extend the time added on period and, with less than a minute to play, Fothergill surged forward and a speculative shot from well outside the area took a wicked deflection and looped over Perez to end the Asia dream.

The only league action of real interest has been in Division One and centred around the three way battle for runners up spot behind Rochdale Asia.

With Fothergill 2nds pointless from their final three league games the door opened for both Wardle OB and Hargreaves to come storming through.

Two goals each from Fielding, Wallis and Jonathan Dewhurst gave Wardle the advantage following a 6-1 thumping of Hargreaves at Firgrove, and they followed this up with a 3-1 win at Fothergill 2nds and a 5-3 win at Falcon 2nds to end their league campaign on thirty two points.

Hargreaves bounced back from their Wardle defeat with away wins at Rochdale Galaxy, thanks to goals from Ashworth (2) and Kay, and Chadderton Park 2nds. Those wins, coupled with the points from Fothergill 2nds failure to fulfil their trip to Redvales, leaves Hargreaves on thirty one points, a single point behind Wardle OB, with one game to play - against … Rochdale Asia.