Rochdale Online Alliance League round up

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

On a normal weekend in the ROAFL Division 2 basement side Horse & Farrier would be the undisputed team of the week after claiming their first league victory of the season at the fifteenth attempt with a 3-0 home win over Fothergill & Whittles 3rds at Firgrove.

However, step forward Division 2 leaders Bridge who, in their first league campaign, dumped Premier Division leaders Weavers out of the President’s Cup. Goals from Cooke and Riley meant the game ended 2-2 after extra time and it was the underdogs who prevailed from the penalty spot to record one of the biggest cup upsets in the Alliance League’s history.

Coincidentally, in the Alletson & Mitchell Memorial Trophy, Weavers second string were also taken to penalties as a Patel hat trick inspired Rochdale Sacred Heart as a frenetic contest ended 6-6 after extra time. Three missed penalties then cost Hearts dear and their higher placed opponents edged in to the next round.

In the remaining two ties in this competition it was a Wardle one-two as the 2nd team demolished Sudden Carling 9-3 at Rutherford Park and the 3rds edged out Castleton 2nds by the odd goal in nine at Rakewood.

Not to be outdone, and concluding a fascinating afternoon’s cup action, Wardle’s first team overcame a potential upset against high flying Division 1 outfit Balderstone with a more than comfortable 5-1 win at Springhill Sports Centre.

Fothergill & Whittles surprising failure to overcome bottom club Asia, coupled with Whitworth Valley’s hammering of a below par Jacks House, means there may well yet be a surprising twist in the tail as the Premier Division play off split takes place after this weekend’s games.

If Fothergills beat Valley on Saturday then, barring a goal difference miracle, they will seal third place before the split. However, if Valley win then they will slip almost unnoticed into that crucial third spot if FC Bury Town fail to overcome Asia at Seedfield. Should Fothergills fail to glean all three points then Bury will take third with a win!! Simples.

On a difficult surface at Whittles Park it was the visitors who settled the better and caused a somewhat off key Fothergills side an extremely uncomfortable first period. Constantly frustrated by the uneven surface and poor final ball Fothergills were distinctly second best and grateful to turn round still on level terms. A more determined start to the second half was rewarded when Ives headed home after sixty five minutes but Asia continued to play with poise and purpose and they levelled with three minutes to go when Khan netted after the home defence was caught square, not for the first time in the game. A late flurry of corners came to nothing for Fothergills leaving their manager Martin Nuttall lamenting their recent loss of form whilst acknowledging the fact that Asia deserved something from a contest that again was much the richer for the way they play their football.

In the day’s league action in the Matterson Cranes First Division Rochdale Asia were held up both by the protest march in the centre of Heywood and then by their opponents Hargreaves as goals from the Careys and Moth gave the Bury outfit a point, meaning Rochdale Asia missed a real chance to make up ground on the top three.

Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the table the 3-3 stalemate between Castleton and Whitworth Valley 2nds does little to ease either side’s fears of relegation.

In the Matthew Montgomery & Co Second Division Bridge’s perfect day was rounded off by the news that promotion rivals Moorcock had been beaten 3-2 at Woodbank and AFC Royton had dropped two vital points at Jacks House 2nds. 

Gale gave Jacks the lead on the half hour in a first half best remembered for the deluge that all but flooded the pitch midway through the half. Todmorden’s own version of “Supersub”, Jonathan Sutcliffe, then fired Jacks into a three goal lead within nine second half minutes and Royton seemed down and out. Crucially though McCann reduced the arrears within a minute and when Grant made it 2-3 with over twenty minutes to go it was most definitely game on. Just three minutes later Haigh levelled matters and both sides squandered gilt edged opportunities to win the game in the closing minutes.