Mixed fortunes at the half-way stage

ON THE RIGHT TRACK: Diggle are going well in the Huddersfield League top flight. Gareth Chew (right) is shown in full flow against Netherton.

FOOTBALL: OLDHAM amateur football’s half-term report reads ‘could do better’.

The results of Santos FC of the Lancashire and Cheshire League’s First Division, could hardly get worse.

Spare a thought for Santos, which has played 15 games and lost all of them - building a goal difference of -94 in the process.

Crushing 15-3 and 12-1 home defeats and two away losses by eight goals tell a sorry tale. But its not all woe.

Santos chairman Ian Dunkerley says: “We are facing challenging times, but we have got a nucleus here with strong and committed personalities. We had to scrap our second team earlier this season and most of those who played for the seconds now form the first team.

“The statistics are worrying, but this is a very young side, competing in a strong level of football, and it has been a steep learning curve for them.”

In the same league, two divisions lower, are Oldham Victoria, whose Failsworth School pitch is beginning to display green shoots of recovery. There was a feeling of change in the air at the club’s 30th anniversary presentation evening last May.

Long-serving official Malcolm Carr stepped down after serving for three decades, and in as secretary came Shelley Prince, with a warning that attitudes must change if results were to improve and the club to prosper.

Michael Shepherd was introduced as manager with 10 games left in the season, and his commitment and Shelley’s words seem to be having an effect.

Shepherd said: “We’ve won four and lost five of our 10 games so far and I have to say we shouldn’t have lost most of those. When I came in as manager we finished with a platform to build on. I’m targeting a top-four finish.”

Injuries and not being able to field a settled side have been key factors in AFC Oldham 2005’s slump in the Premier Division. Paul Marshall’s side is currently in the bottom half of the table, when it past seasons they had been challenging strongly at the top.

Marshall said: “We are still in the Rhodes Cup, but I would expect us to finish in the top half at least.”

Failsworth Dynamos harbour hopes of title success in the Premier Division of the Lancashire Amateur League, while in Division One there are polarised positions for Oldham Hulmeians, challenging strongly for promotion, and Chaddertonians.

A sterling record of just one defeat in their opening 12 matches suggests that promotion – at last – to Division One of the Huddersfield and District League is not too far away for Heyside. Diggle too is enjoying a good season in the top flight.

In Division One, Uppermill sit proudly at the top - a position once occupied by Hollinwood, whose six-point deduction due to the folding of Wigan Robin Park condemns them to a mid-table slot.