Sunday League Round Up - title chase goes on

Success to the Plough and Copperpot both won to keep their fight for the Newbold Tyres Premier Division title on the boil. Plough remain ten points clear of Copperpot but Copperpot have three games in hand.

Both front runners were pushed hard and both won by just the odd goal in three;  Copperpot fortunate to take three points as a hard working Gallows team pushed them to the wire.  The game produced few clear cut opportunities with most of the play being confined to the midfield area.

A deflected Mooney shot opened the scoring for Copperpot, and soon after Elsworth deservedly equalised for Gallows. 

Copperpot snatched the points with 15 to go when former Gallows striker Shelmerdine netted against his former club with a near post glancing effort.

Success to the Plough were even more fortunate as ten man, and for fifteen minutes nine man, Bamford H&H should have punished them for taking the points for granted.

Plough were the team that looked to be a man short and were lucky not to be four down at half time, not just the one. Plough did not look like scoring even when Bamford had only nine players on the pitch – one of the Bamford players having to leave the field for 15 minutes until he could find a baby sitter to watch his children on the sideline!

It was against the run of play and into the last 15 minutes before Plough got back on level terms. A free kick just in their own half was met by Burg and Riley who put Plough level.

Not deterred, Bamford pressed again and had a good chance to go back in front, before Plough took the lead after Astley was hacked down in the box and Riley beat Wild from the spot.

Plough hung on to collect three more valuable points.

Birches saw off Cartshaft reasonably comfortably and Littleborough failed to turn up for their game against Commercial; a meeting Tuesday may see the team fold without completing their fixtures for the season.

In the Keystone First Division, with the top two not playing, third placed North Star did what they needed to do, unsurprisingly winning easily against a Woodhouse side that has just one point from eleven games.

The mid table clash between Brunswick and Marston Tavern was a very close game that went Brunswick’s way courtesy of a solitary goal.

Queen Anne bounced back from their 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Broadway Celtic in their last game to just shade their game against an Italia side losing for the second week running.

Copperpot Reserves look a shoe in for the Dog amp; Partridge Third Division title already with only twelve of their twenty games played – their defeat of DC United, a twelfth win in twelve, consolidating their domination of the division.

Second placed FC Dale did their best to keep the chase viable winning away at The Star comfortably, but this still leaves Dale five points behind Copperpot having played one game more.

Third placed Wardleworth slipped up badly taking only one point from their draw against second bottom Old Bricklayers.

Turks Head thrashed mid table rivals Bay Horse, scoring six without reply and the Whitworth Valley versus FC Bernard game went to form with FC Bernard winning by the narrowest of margins.

The chase for the Lambourne Images Third Division title hots up with three clubs still in with a realistic chance. Two of the three played each other and a perhaps predictable draw ensued, top of the table Rochdale Nomads and third placed Norden may well come to rue the solitary point as second placed Catholic Club Reserves won, albeit very late in the game, against Rochdale Online to move within two points of Nomads with a game in hand.

Old Bulls Head made short work of Red Lion hitting five without reply and Dale Dynamos lost one nil for the second week running, this time to fellow strugglers The Waggon.