Limeside march to Premier glory

LINE-UP . . . captains Jonathan Bond (Limeside King George) and Shez Rashid (Coppice United) with their teams.

Coppice United ‘A’ 1, Limeside King George 3

Limeside followed a 5-2 President's Trophy final success against Famous King George 'A' five days earlier to record a deserved double in a comfortable victory over Coppice United 'A' in the final of the Midas Plumbing Oldham Sunday League Premier Division Shield.

Coppice were a pale shadow of the side that came close to winning the Jack Abbott Premier Division title. Limeside put their opponents to the sword with first-half strikes from Jonathan Bond and Liam Cashmore to lead 2-0 at the break.

Andrew Stafford went close to increasing Limeside's advantage with a thunderous effort that rattled the underside of the Coppice crossbar with 15 minutes to go.

And when Yasir Ali stole in behind a static Limeside defence two minutes later to finish with precision, there was a sense that a comeback could be on the cards.

When the two teams met earlier this season in a league encounter, Limeside led 3-0 only for Coppice to storm back and win 4-3.

But there was to be no repeat of that: Limeside's defender Chris Robinson a commanding presence virtually throughout the game.

Limeside player-manager Warren Berry said: "We produced some decent football in the two finals - it has been a great week for us."

Joe Heap displayed a touch of class with Limeside's third goal in the final minute. Heap rounded his opponent 20 yards from goal in one electrifying movement before gently lifting the ball over the advancing Chris Johnson and into the back of the net. Pure class