Amateur football round up

BATTLE FOR THE BALL: Forad Choudry (right) tries to win possession for Oldham United.

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Match of the Day by JOHN GILDER

Oldham United 2, Rifle Range Royal Blues 6

ANYONE who claims that standards in local football are slipping would have been proved wrong had they seen this D&J Builders (North West) Ltd Oldham Sunday League division two clash.

Heavy overnight rain had left the pitch on Oldham Edge resembling a marsh — the large puddles on the adjacent playing area had even attracted 20 or so seagulls.

Not the kind of conditions, then, for free-flowing football, yet on a cold and wet afternoon, both sides emerged with great credit.

Honesty, commitment and the resilience to play in such miserable conditions were evident in bucketloads as the two teams showed neat touches, good control and some intelligent off-the-ball running.

That the Blues won by such a convincing scoreline was largely irrelevant to the neutral observer for this was the Oldham Sunday League at its best.

United were playing only their fourth match since entering the league at the start of the season.

It has been a difficult start for the side managed by Mohammed Islam, who paced — or should that be squelched — up and down the touchline in an effort to motivate his side after they had conceded two early goals.

Blues’ assistant manager Steve Hubbert said: “It was a well-contested game, with both teams showing plenty of effort.

“I thought our defence was brilliant, because United played some decent attacking football.”

The pick of the Blues defenders was centre-back Patrick Harwood, while goalkeeper Chris Jeffries pulled off a number of fine stops when the scoreline wasn’t as emphatic.

Two late goals for the Blues gave the scoreline a one-sided look, but this was the fifth victory in six league outings for manager Andy Livesey’s team as they seek promotion.

GOALS: United — Choudry (57), Arnold (77).

Blues — Schofield (12, 55), Healey (19, 31), Uren (80), Proctor (86).

OLDHAM UNITED: D Miah, A Miah, P Islam, T Islam, M Islam, Arnold, Rofe Miah, Enny, Mubin, Choudry, Raj Miah. Subs: J Ali, R Ali, F Miah, Alim.

RIFLE RANGE ROYAL BLUES: Jeffries, Quick, Kirk, Oakes, Harwood, Scoltock, Uren, Healey, Harrison, Schofield, Milner. Subs: McEvoy, Collins, Nuttall, Proctor, McDermott.

Referee: C Baldwin.



Springhead on a roll

SPRINGHEAD have put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack in the Bridgewater Office Supplies Manchester League premier division.

The Ashfield Crescent outfit have stormed six points clear as they pursue only their second top-flight title.

Springhead opened up their significant lead thanks to a 3-1 win over close rivals Hollinwood. It was the team’s seventh straight success.

Paul Stevenson set the ball rolling when he converted a Richard Bennett cross, but their opponents always posed a threat on the break and equalised through Alan Beckett just after the half-hour mark.

Springhead were back in front before the break courtesy of Ben Fletcher’s header, and they added a third when a Frank Byrne’s effort was parried by the ’keeper and Bennett was on hand to fire home the rebound.

Meanwhile, Ian Hulme converted a last-minute penalty as Royton Town, who created a host of chances, were held to a 1-1 draw by lowly East Manchester.

Carl Taylor, Tommy Bogan, who bagged a brace sevens days earlier, and Danny Taylor all went close before the home side went in front with 12 minutes to go.

But Town earned a share of the spoils when Chris Mason was brought down in the area and Hulme put away the penalty.

Avro have slipped into the bottom four after they lost 4-2 at Wythenshawe Amateurs.

Results and scorers from the Manchester League are —

Manchester Amateur Cup: Avro Res 2, Stand Athletic Res 1; Burnage Metro 2, Hindsford Res 1; Gorse Hill Athletic 6, Monton Amateurs Res 4; Heywood St James 4, Beechfield United Res 2; Hollinwood Res 1, Irlam FC Res 3; Maine Road Res 1, Gregorians Res 4; Manchester Rovers 1, East Manchester Res 1 aet — East won 4-1 on pens; Old Trafford 4, Atherton Town Res 0.

Premier division: Chapel Town 1, Atherton Town 1; Pennington 1, Leigh Athletic 2; Prestwich Heys 4, Elton Vale 4; Springhead 3, Hollinwood 1; Stockport Georgians 3, Hindsford 0; Wythenshawe Amateurs 4, Avro 2; East Manchester 1, Royton Town 1.

Division two: Dukinfield Town Res 3, Bury Amateurs Res 0; Elton Vale Res 3, Prestwich Heys Res 0; Leigh Athletic Res 2, Rochdale Sacred Heart Res 0; West Didsbury & Chorlton Res 3, Stockport Georgians Res 3; Wythenshawe Amateurs Res 5, Springhead Res 2.

Division three: Breightmet United Res 2, Bury Amateurs ‘A’ 0; Hollinwood ‘A’ 4, Chapel Town Res 7; Royton Town Res 2, Walshaw Sports ‘A’ 2; Wythenshawe Town Res 3, Stockport Georgians ‘A’ 0.




Marvellous Marvin

MARVIN Greenwood FC, one of only three unbeaten teams left in the D&J Builders (North-West) Ltd Oldham Sunday, are riding high in division two.

With six wins out of seven, they have a narrow one point lead over Steven Caine FC.

They returned to the top after a 3-2 win over Wellington ‘B’, with Marvin Greenwood scoring two of the goals for his own team.

Rifle Range Royal Blues remain third after a 6-2 defeat of Oldham United — see John Gilder’s Match of the Day — while Limeside Athletic are hot on their heels in fourth after they swept aside Coppice Rangers 7-2.

Nathan Eastmond continued his rich vein of form when taking his tally to 10 goals in two games for Lowerhouse United in the Jack Abbott premier division.

He struck four times in the 7-5 defeat of Hunt Lane, while closest rivals Coppice United edged out Avro under-19s.

There was relief in the Shahjalal Unity camp after they picked up their first point of the season with a 4-4 draw at fellow strugglers Failsworth Athletic.

With Khartoum Northern in Challenge Cup action — their tie against FC Broadgate was actually postponed — Fitton Hill stepped in to retake the lead in David Giblin division one.

They recorded a 7-4 win over Rose of Lancaster, who would have gone top themselves if they had won.

Parkside got the better of Westwood in a nine-goal thriller, while Royton Athletic won 4-3 at Red Star.

In the President’s Trophy, AFC Church held their nerve in a penalty shoot-out after their all-premier division tie against High Crompton CC ended 1-1.

Results and scorers are —

Jack Abbott premier division: Failsworth Athletic 4 (G Ashworth, R Helme 2, D Cain), Shahjalal Unity 4 (S Islam 2, M Ali, N Uddin); Coppice United 3 (D O’Connell 2, N Butt), Avro under-19s 2; Hunt Lane 5 (S. Weaver, K Kurpas, A Duxbury, W Moran, S McDonald), Lowerhouse United 7 (N Eastmond 4, I Burns 2, K Martin); Royton FC 2 (C Ginnever, R Siddall), Chaddy End FC 5 (S Barrow 2, A Beckett, M Kenny, A Whittaker).

David Giblin division one: Fitton Hill 7 (P Badby 3, A Brown 2, D Brooks 2), Rose of Lancaster 4 (L Scanlon, D Scanlon 2, R Christie); Red Star 3 (C Beamish 2, M Shaw), Royton Athletic 4; Springhead Libs P Crompton & Royton P; Westwood 4 (M Rahman 2, A Dafe, A Hussain), Parkside 5 (J Stone 3, A Scoltock, P Jennings).

Division two: Coppice Rangers 2 (A Baker, M Fahim), Limeside Athletic 7 (W Berry 3, A Prince 2, M Howard, C Glynn); Marvin Greenwood FC 3 (Junior, M Greenwood 2), Wellington ‘B’ 2 (D Leach 2); Oldham United 2, Rifle Range Royal Blues 6 (C Healey 2, M Schofield 2, S Uren, L Proctor).

President’s Trophy: High Crompton CC 1 (A Wade), AFC Church (N Mathers) 1 — AFC Church won 5-3 on penalties.

Challenge Cup: Khartoum Northern P FC Broadgate P; Wellington ‘A’ P Steven Caine FC P; Waggon and Horses P Old Grey Mare P.




Diggle deflated as two-goal lead goes to waste

DIGGLE FC were left kicking themselves after crashing out of the Huddersfield and District League’s Barlow Cup competition.

Leading 2-0 against reigning division one champions Heywood Irish Centre with half-an-hour to go, they somehow contrived to lose this first round tie 4-2.

Diggle were the better team for two thirds of the match, and they went ahead just before the break through a Ryan Hewitt header.

Gareth Goddard added a second moments after the restart, but Heywood were level with 20 minutes to go.

The home side completed their comeback with two late goals as they punished a Diggle side who had lost all composure by that stage.

Uppermill are also out after they spurned a bucketload of chances in a 2-1 defeat at Meltham Athletic.

Behind at the break, ’Mill were much better in the second half and Jake Jacobs set up striker Scott Thistleton, who thumped the ball into the top corner.

The visitors went on to hit the crossbar and were thwarted by the ’keeper time and again, before a lapse in concentration allowed Meltham to snatch a late winner.

Heyside completed a miserable afternoon for first teams when they went down 1-0 to Chorltonians in the Manchester County FA Challenge Cup.

In the Richardson Cup, a hat-trick from C Rogers and a J Roye effort clinched a 4-1 win for Heyside reserves against Uppermill ‘A’, for whom Kieron Fahaye replied.

Diggle’s second string lost 2-0 at Newsome WMC reserves, but Uppermill reserves are through after a 4-2 extra-time victory over their Honley counterparts. Byrom Coleman (two), Matt Wilson and Chris Taylor scored for ’Mill.

Results are —

Barlow Cup, round one: Heywood Irish Centre FC 4, Diggle 2; Meltham Athletic 2, Uppermill 1. Richardson Cup, round one: Diggle Res 0, Newsome WMC Res 2; Honley Res 2, Uppermill Res 4; Heyside FC Res 4, Uppermill ‘A’ 1. Manchester County FA Challenge Cup: Chorltonians 1, Heyside FC 0. Reserve division two: Diggle ‘A’ 3, Cumberworth Res 5.




IN division one of the Works League, Nathan Boote bagged three goals and James Beveridge got the other for Uppermill thirds in a 4-1 defeat of Syngenta Sports, but the fifth succumbed 9-1 to Sovereign Sports in division two. Simon Poulter scored the consolation.


Harlequins take another hit

IT would seem the wheels have come off Harlequins’ Rochdale On-line premier division title challenge after they slipped to their third straight defeat.

They lost to Stonemasons for the second week running, this time by a 4-3 margin.

Harlequin, with Jon Bland, Paul Higginbottom and Dave Bates getting the goals, fought back from 2-0 down to lead 3-2.

But they conceded two goals in the final 15 minutes, the winner coming about when an effort rebounded off the unfortunate Jay Newby and into the net.

Meanwhile, AFC Royton completed back-to-back wins over Fothergill and Whittles in division two.

Barry King opened the scoring in an even first half, before further goals from Marc Sneyd and Danny Cole secured a comfortable 3-0 victory.




Solid start for Oldham teams

OLDHAM have made an encouraging start to the new Greater Manchester Ability Counts League.

In the premiership, the ‘A’ team, with a goal from Robert Watson, recorded a 1-0 win over Manchester City, while Ben Kielty scored in the 1-1 draw with Everton.

Liam Aspin notched a hat-trick for the ‘B’ team, who defeated Ashton-in-Makerfield 3-1 in the league section.

They followed up with a 3-3 draw against Wigan. Steve Mortin, Jason Cartwright and Steve Young got the Oldham goals.

The competition is played at Salford Sports Village and is split into three divisions, the premiership, championship and league.



CALLUM Frizzell scored his second goal of the game in the very last minute as Royton Town reserves came from 2-0 behind to draw 2-2 at home to Walshaw Sports ‘A’ in division three.

Elsewhere, Hollinwood ‘A’ were beaten 4-2 by Chapel Town reserves.

Avro reserves overcame their Stand Athletic counterparts 2-1 in the Manchester Amateur Cup, but Hollinwood reserves are out after losing 3-1 to Irlam FC reserves.

In division two, Springhead’s second string went down 5-2 at Wythenshawe Amateurs reserves




Mayall applies finishing touch

JOHN MAYALL struck twice as Santos FC left it late to snatch three points in division two of the Lancashire and Cheshire League.

With only seconds remaining, Mayall slammed home a pass from player-manager Chris Sarsfield to clinch a 3-2 success over Heaton Mersey.

Low on numbers because of injury and unavailability, Sarsfield was forced into his first start of the season.

He also had a hand in Mayall’s first goal and Santos’ second after Mersey had cancelled out Danny Hicks’ early opener.

AFC Oldham 2005 are up to fifth in the table after a 9-2 demolition job over lowly Deans Youth.

In the Manchester Amateur Cup, Oldham Victoria are through to round three after a 3-2 defeat of VC United.

A Beswick double and an own goal accounted for Santos’ tally in their 3-0 win over Govan Athletic in division ‘C’, while AFC Oldham reserves recorded a 5-3 victory at Chorltonians fourths and Victoria’s second string defeated Moorside Rangers reserves 3-2.

Results are —

Manchester Amateur Cup, round two: VC United 2, Oldham Victoria 3. Division two: AFC Oldham 2005 9, Deans Youth 2; Santos FC 3, Heaton Mersey 2. Division ‘C’: Chorltonians 4ths 3, AFC Oldham 2005 Res 5; Oldham Victoria Res 3, Moorside Rangers FC Res 2; Santos FC Res 3, Govan Athletic Res 0. Division ‘D’: Irlam Steel 3rds 8, AFC Oldham 2005 3rds 2.Falconers get off the ground

FALCONER are off the mark in division one of the Ashton Sunday League.

After one draw and three defeats, they broke their duck with a thrilling 4-3 win over Manor.

Simon Milnes (two), Aaron Clarke and John Howarth scored for Falconers, who have relegated Anglers to bottom spot. John Slicker (two) and Michael Crossley replied.

At the other end of the table, Dog and Partridge have stormed six points clear after goals from Ryan Rafferty and Gareth Cardwell clinched a 2-1 win over nearest rivals Charlestown.

With the fixture between Springbank and Halfway House postponed because of a waterlogged pitch, only one game went ahead in the premier division.

It took place at Moston Labour Club, where the home side went down 5-3 to Britannia, who have moved up to fourth place.

Results and scorers are —

Premier division: Springbank P Halfway House P; Moston Labour Club (A Whitehouse 2, N Alexander), Britannia 5.

Division one: Anglers P Home Guard P; Falconers 4 (S Milnes 2, A Clarke, J Howarth), Manor FC 3 (J Slicker 2, M Crossley); Dog and Partridge 2 (R Rafferty, G Cardwell), Charlestown 1 (T Bates).




Hulmeians are going great guns

OLDHAM Hulmeians continued their good run of form with a 3-1 home win over Old Boltonians Reserves in division two of the Lancashire Amateur League.

Danny Proffitt (two) and Danny Tate scored the goals that gave the local side a fourth successive victory. They are now up to seventh in the table.

In the premier division, Chaddertonians wasted a half-time lead as they went down 2-1 at Little Lever SC.

Neil Sissons pounced on a poor clearance by the ’keeper to put Chadds ahead at the break, but the home side hit back to claim the points.

Failsworth Dynamos have slipped to third place after they were beaten 4-1 by Horwich RMI FC. Tom Stuttard scored the consolation goal.

Doubles from Barry McDougall and Terry Qualters earned Dynamos reserves a 4-1 win over Rochdale St Clements ‘A’ in division three.

But Kyle Freeman’s long-range effort was in vain as Chadds ‘A’ conceded two second-half goals in a 2-1 defeat by Radcliffe Town reserves in division four.

Meanwhile, Hulmeians reserves lost 3-1 at Lymm ‘B’ in division six.

In division seven, the third XI had a day to forget at Broughton Amateurs ‘B’, going down 6-0.

Second-half substitute John Hurst bagged a hat-trick for Hulmeians ‘B’ in another division-seven clash, but his efforts were to no avail as Old Blackburnians ‘C’ ran out 5-3 victors.

Results are —

Premier division: Horwich RMI v 4, Failsworth Dynamos 1; Little Lever SC 2, Chaddertonians 1.

Division one: Horwich Victoria P Chaddertonians Res P; Mostonians 7, Tyldesley United 0.

Division two: Oldham Hulmeians 3, Old Boltonians Res 1.

Division three: Failsworth Dynamos Res 4, Rochdale St Clements ‘A’ 1; Mostonians Res 2, Rossendale Ams ‘A’ 2.

Division four: Chaddertonians ‘A’ 1, Radcliffe Town Res 2.

Division six: Lymm ‘B’ 3, Oldham Hulmeians Res 1.

Division seven: Broughton Amateurs ‘B’ 6, Oldham Hulmeians ‘A’ 0; Oldham Hulmeians ‘B’ 3,Old Blackburnians ‘C’ 5.




Dynamos advance

A YOUNG Failsworth Dynamos side booked their place in the last eight of the Manchester FA Charter Standard Cup thanks to a 6-0 defeat of Heyside.

Jake Wharton (two), Terry Qualters (two), Tom Stuttard and Matty Heap got the goals.

Dynamos fielded a mixture of players from their two Lancashire Amateur League teams, the Oldham Sunday League side and the under-17s.

The quarter-finals will take place in February.



WHITE Hart are the latest club to fold in the D&J Builders (North-West) Ltd Oldham Sunday League.

They played five games in David Giblin division one, with club officials blaming a lack of commitment from players for their demise.

Holts, from the Jack Abbott premier division, lasted just three matches before they called it a day.