ROAFL Report

Rochdale Online Alliance Football League

The final league action of the season saw Fothergill & Whittles claim second place behind Wardle in the Sartori Sharpening Services Premier Division and Sudden share second place with White Lion in the Matthew Montgomery & Co Second Division.

Balderstone needed to win their last two league games to pip F&W for second place but their hopes disappeared at the first time of asking as goals from Greenwood (2), Hahn and Proctor gave visitors Whitworth Valley a 4-2 Wednesday night win that earned them fifth place in the final league table.

This rendered Saturday’s meeting between the two meaningless as a Chaplin hat trick fired Balderstone to a 6-1 home win over a not too interested Fothergills side, which meant Balderstone regained third place following FC Bury Town’s home win over Rochdale Asia.

White Lion did not find the undulating pastures of Greenvale at all to their liking for the first of their two visits in the final seven days of the season and spent much of the first hour telling anyone who cared to listen about it. When they finally settled to play the football they are capable of, goals from Cass, Kershaw, Leary and Nicholson secured a vital three points that meant they went into the final round of matches level pegging with Sudden.

Fothergills then muddied the waters by failing the second meeting with Lion, which meant Sudden had to beat Rochdale Galaxy to match Lion’s final tally of 45 points. This they did in some style and so the complications began.

As White Lion had failed their Easter Saturday league game against AFC Royton, goal difference could not be used to determine second place. Attempts to arrange a play off were unsuccessful, given the fact the season had officially ended and no suitable neutral venue was available at such short notice, and so joint runners up were declared.

Given that over the course of the best part of four thousand minutes of league football all that separated the two sides were two goals then joint runners up would seem to be the fairest outcome.

So 2012-13 will go down as the 'Season of the W'!

Wardle, Westdene and Woodbank – winners of not only their respective divisions but also winners of their respective indoor leagues to boot.

Perhaps more curiously both cup competitions have been won by clubs from the second division. Woodbank again and Fothergill & Whittles 3rds A&M Memorial Trophy triumph.