Match Report: Turks Head – Whitworth Valley (Rochdale Online League Cup)

The end of season fixture congestion doesn’t look set to be alleviated any time soon as our eighth consecutive win has put us through to the quarter finals of the Rochdale Online League Cup.

After a couple of weeks without a game, we seemed to spend most of the first half dusting off a few cobwebs, but we definitely improved after falling behind and I don’t think anybody thought we deserved to be 1-0 down at half-time.

Eastwood (who successfully shook off his ‘air shot’ tag this week) might have had a hat-trick in the first half but for some woeful finishing, but the award for worst performance of the half surely goes to their linesman, who seemed to flag just about every time we got the ball in their half. Kudos to the ref for having a word with him and having the sense to ignore most of his outrageous flagging. In fact, credit to the ref for having a tremendous game full-stop, I reckon that might just have been the best refereeing performance we’ve had this season.

Much better second half all-round though. Easty bagged the first Turks Head hat-trick of the season, though Woody wasn’t far behind him in scoring three (although other reports say he only got two and a half), and Ste Ormrod finally proved that he can score with his feet – just as long as he’s 40 yards out and the keeper is nowhere to be found!

Coming back from 1-0 down to 7-1 up was a pretty remarkable achievement, but I don’t think anybody thought that the game was dead and buried at that point. Indeed, if it wasn’t for Seymour’s lengthy pins performing heroics to keep out a late penalty, Whitworth could have been right back in it. Although I think the lad who took the penalty made it easy on Seymour by deciding to spot the ball in a three-inch deep ditch. Genius!

Fortunately, we managed to grab an all-important eighth goal to really kill the match off and clinch a quarter-final berth against Premier Division Bamford H&H.

I think that just about covers everything….

Team: Seymour, M. Jones, Orchard (Lyons), Mannion, A. Jones, Almond, Hall, Nuttall (Hulme), Wood, Eastwood, Perks (Ormrod) Subs: Hardisty, Emmott, Day.

Goals: Eastwood (3), Wood (3), Ormrod, M. Jones