ROAFL Report

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

The competitive nature of the Sartori Sharpening Services Premier Division was perhaps best illustrated by last weekend’s results as six of the eight teams shared twelve goals and six points evenly between them.

Astonishingly, the exception to the rule were leaders Wardle who were on the wrong end of a Ben Holmes nap hand as they dropped their first points of the season as FC Bury Town thrashed them 6-2 at Rutherford Park.

In a transitional season Balderstone are finding some consistency now and are well in the running for second place after their 2-2 draw with Asia at Hopwood Hall. Bradley Kelly netted both goals for Balderstone with an Ahmed Maqsood brace earning a point for the home team. 

Bottom club Rochdale Asia gleaned only their second point of the season at the expense of Moorcock thanks to goals from Abdul Khalique and Omar Malik while Fothergill & Whittles held on to second place after their 2-2 draw with Whitworth Valley at Whittles Park.

It was ninety minutes of frustration for Fothergills as they struggled to piece together their normally accurate short passing game and the long ball forward was dealt with comfortably all afternoon by a competitive Valley side prepared to work hard for each other.

Both sides were missing key players but it was Valley edging the psychological battle as they sensed the home side’s growing dissatisfaction with their overall game. That was compounded in the sixty seventh minute when a goal kick taken short gifted possession to Valley and they duly took advantage to open the scoring.

Fothergills looked for an immediate response and found it within six minutes when the visitors failed to deal with a set piece and Law headed across goal for Morton to head into an empty net from six yards.

The game then seemed to have been turned on its head as Valley gave away a needless free kick from which Law headed home to put Fothergills ahead.

With the game becoming a touch fractious it was the home side’s turn to fail to protect a lead as Marshall created space on the left hand side of the area to curl a precise shot round the Fothergills’ keeper and into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Valley then immediately transferred the initiative back to the opposition when Craggs was sent off for a poor tackle on Holbrook but despite creating chances at either end neither side could find that decisive third goal and a draw, on the day, was a fair result. 

The top two march on in the Matterson Cranes First Division as Westdene won 3-1 at Springhill Sports Centre against Balderstone 2nds thanks to goals from Berry, Boyoh and Smalley, whilst Wardle 2nds doubled that with six of their own at Goshen against bottom club Hargreaves.

Fothergill & Whittles 2nds continued their recent revival as two goals from Andrew White helped them to a creditable 3-3 draw at Jacks House, whilst Rochdale Sacred Heart slip a place to third after their away draw at Whitworth Valley 2nds.

And it’s more or less the same story in the Matthew Montgomery & Co Second Division as leaders Woodbank won 3-1 at Firgrove against Rochdale Galaxy, courtesy of goals from Frost, McDonald and Havens, whilst White Lion stayed just a point behind with a 4-0 home win over Wardle 3rds.

Fitz McKenzie and Martyn Kean propelled third placed Sudden to their eighth league win of the season, 2-0 over AFC Royton, enabling them to ensure the W’s are looking over their shoulders and a Josh Harriss-Hudson hat trick for Fothergill & Whittles 3rds condemned Horse and Farrier to a thirteenth straight league defeat.