ROAFL report

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

A hat-trick from Darren Smith fired Wardle to their tenth consecutive win of the season, placing the runaway Premier Division leaders firmly in the driving seat as the league enters its winter break.

Boasting a 100% winning record, Wardle find themselves 15 points clear at the top of the Sartori Sharpening Services Premier Division after hitting Balderstone for five - Andrew Williams and Jason Dearden also scoring.

The match appeared to be heading for a goalless first-half until Smith’s 20th goal of the season two minutes before the break.

The league top scorer added a second from the spot just after the restart, and wrapped up his hat-trick seven minutes later with Dearden netting in between.

Williams’ late goal sealed the rout, and while Balderstone have two games in hand, it seems only a collapse of seismic proportions in the New Year will deny holders Wardle another title.

No other league fixtures were played on Saturday, but Division One high-flyers Wardle 2nds and Westdene both booked their places in the third round of the President’s Cup.
Michael Fielding’s first-half hat-trick helped Wardle 2nds to a 7-1 win against Division Two side White Lion at Rutherford Park, after groundsmen worked for four hours to ensure the game went ahead.

Fielding’s treble was sandwiched between goals by Khalid O’Sullivan and Jordan Kershaw, and substitute Daniel Oldham sealed the win with two second-half strikes after Rhys Lewis pulled one back for the visitors.

Finally, in a repeat of last week’s league fixture Westdene beat Balderstone 2nds, with Jack Berry, Dominic Clarke and Chris Walton scoring in a 3-0 win at Redvales.

With the weather deteriorating, the innovative winter break looks set to prevent further disruption over the coming weeks however.

The inaugural indoor football league competition starts tomorrow (8 December), with outdoor matches not returning until Saturday 19 January, in a bid to avoid widespread fixture cancellations.

Matches will be played at Milnrow Soccer Village on Saturday afternoons, with an entire league season being played out over three weekends to ensure competitive football for all teams involved.