Rochdale Online Alliance League round up

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

In the historical journals of our time Wardle is described as a village that has existed within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the early 12th century, and in more recent times as the most northerly settlement of Greater Manchester. The village sits 700 feet above sea level, in the foothills of the Pennines, as many a hardy soul will testify when exposed to the overhead conditions while participating or spectating at Rutherford Park.

Yet in all the many decades of football in the village it’s doubtful whether there has been a stranger day than last Saturday as Weavers 2nds came up just a single goal short of a result that would have meant all three Wardle teams producing
5-5 draws in their respective games.

Smith 2, Watson, Bradley and Brierley netted the first team’s five but it wasn’t enough to claim all three points at newly promoted Jacks House while Wallis 2, Musgrave, McLoughlin and Dewhurst were on target for the 3rd team but again the five goals only secured one point against …. Jacks House 2nds.

And so goals from Messrs Forshaw, Matthews and the Whites, Nathan and Kieran, for Weavers 2nds were not quite enough to prevent their Wardle counterparts from earning all three points with their nap hand.

That victory enables Wardle to keep pace with Balderstone at the top of the Matterson Cranes Division 1 table following the latter’s comfortable 5-2 home win over Hargreaves thanks to goals from Petrillo 2, Jopson 2 and Wild.

Rochdale Sacred Heart inflicted a second successive defeat on Rochdale Asia at Firgrove in a niggly affair that saw referee Andrew Perrin having to administer four yellow cards and one red. Allatt and Melia put Hearts two up inside ten minutes but Khalique (25 mins) and Hussain (35) restored parity for Asia only for Melia (36) to bag his second and end the scoring, if not the incident, before half time.

In the Matthew Montgomery & Co Division 2 Moorcock are top after goals from Winterbottom 2 and Fletcher earned them the narrow win that ended White Lion’s unbeaten start to life in the ROAFL.

Sitting one point behind Moorcock but with a game in hand are AFC Royton who maintained their 100% start to the season with a 2-0 home win over Woodbank at New Barn.

Early home claims for a penalty were waived away before Wild put Royton ahead and Fearon ensured all three points for his side with a sharp turn and clinical finish from the edge of the area. A broken collarbone for midfielder Steve Hardwick somewhat took the gloss off Royton’s win and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Bridge led early at Heywood against Fothergill & Whittles 3rds but were pegged back by an equaliser from Clarke, and again at 3-1 Clarke reduced the arrears with his second of the afternoon. From that point on it was all down hill for the ten men visitors though Bridge could only manage two more goals to underline their superiority on the day.

Two more goals for Sudden’s Fitz McKenzie, giving him seven in three games, at Matthew Moss but Castleton 2nds fought back to earn their first point of the campaign leaving Woodbank as the only pointless team in Division 2…. but they have only played the one game.