ROAFL Report

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

After dropping their first points of the season the previous week Wardle found themselves facing a second successive league defeat at Whittles Park as Fothergill & Whittles continued their push for runners up spot in the Sartori Sharpening Services Premier Division. In an evenly contested game Chris Holbrook’s opener for Fothergills was cancelled out by Paul Sykes and the spoils were shared.

The game of the day was undoubtedly at Matthew Moss as the Ben Holmes road show arrived on the 3G as he followed up his nap hand at Wardle the previous week with four more goals as FC Bury Town edged a thirteen goal thriller. Spare a thought for Bradley Kelly as his four goals for Balderstone went unrewarded.

As Moorcock’s suprising slide down the table continued with a 3-1 away defeat to Whitworth Valley Asia gave themselves a realistic hope of avoiding relegation with a 3-2 away win at Rochdale Asia. In truth a scrappy game as goals either side of half time from Omar Malik cancelled out Maas’s coolly taken opener for Asia. With both sides struggling for fluency on a tacky surface that looked enough for the winless home side until Kameel Ahmed levelled matters in the eighty seventh minute. Seemingly denied their first win of the season at the death it got even worse for Rochdale Asia as a corner in the third minute of added time from Shamas Ahmed curled high over everyone and into the top right hand corner of the net to deny the bottom club even the consolation of a point.

Westdene continued on their merry way at the top of the Matterson Cranes First Division with a 4-2 away win at Goshen over Hargreaves thanks to goals from Berry, Bolton, Walton and Wilkins.

Wardle 2nds remain their nearest challengers with a 5-2 home win over Fothergill & Whittles 2nds as Kershaw, Oldham, Williams, Fielding and Greenwood got on the scoresheet whilst Rochdale Sacred Heart’s hopes of a top three finish diminished with a home defeat to Balderstone 2nds.

The shock result of the day came in the Matthew Montgomery & Co Second Division as White Lion slumped to an unexpected home defeat to Fothergill & Whittles 3rds. Goals from Walsh, Clark and Johnston cancelled out a Cass effort for White Lion and with Woodbank and Sudden taking full advantage the pressure is suddenly on Lion to maintain a promotion place in the final third of the season.

Thorpe, Knight and Mills scored as Sudden won 3-2 at AFC Royton and a James McDonald hat trick fired Woodbank to a 8-1 home win over Horse & Farrier.
Wardle 3rds are on a slide hardly slowed by a home draw with Rochdale Galaxy and Horse & Farrier just might fancy their chances when the two sides meet this weekend.