Purple patch settles derby

Springhead 1, Royton Town 4

A GLANCE at the Bridgewater Office Supplies Manchester League premier division table, even at this early stage, tells you that Oldham teams are more than capable of challenging for honours.

Before the season started, all four of our local sides predicted similar or improved fortunes than last time round.

And now Springhead, Avro, Hollinwood and Royton Town are all sitting pretty in the top half of the table.

Four Oldham sides in an 18-strong division means a glut of derby matches to look forward to and, if last season’s duels are anything to go by, then followers of the local amateur game are in for a treat.

The latest of these head to heads saw Springhead entertain Royton Town at Ashfield Crescent.

It turned out to be a bittersweet day for the hosts, who launched Oldham’s ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out Of Football’ campaign and also held a club sponsors’ event on the day.

But Springhead’s efforts on the pitch did not match those off it.

Springhead enjoyed slightly the better of the opening exchanges without taking advantage of the opportunities that came their way.

But when a free-kick was awarded in Town’s favour in 36 minutes, leading to the opening goal for the visitors, the home side felt somewhat aggrieved.

Springhead manager Lee McAllister said: “It was a slightly dubious decision to award the free-kick.

“And, although we don’t like to dwell on decisions made by the match officials, it was arguably a turning point in the game because we had controlled it up till then.”

Turning point or not, it did indeed lead to the first goal as, from the free kick, Wayne Dean placed his 25-yard drive just to the left of ’keeper Lee Milner.

Three goals in the space of a 10-minutes purple patch, midway through the second period, gave Town an unassailable advantage.

First, Danny Trainer netted with an audacious lob before Dean got his second goal of the game with a smart finish from 12 yards.

Then it was the turn of Adam Ruddock to find the net, the 18-year-old emerging from the bench to score his sixth goal in five outings.

Ruddock is fast turning out to be the find of the season for Town after being plucked from local junior football,

When Ryan Shaughnessy set up Richard Bennett for an injury-time consolation goal, it was at least something for much of the 275-strong crowd to cheer.

Phil Haigh, the Town manager, said: “Our tactics served us well, we played high up the pitch and got our rewards.

“It’s a great result for us from what was a proper local derby.”

SPRINGHEAD: Milner, Cunningham, Ferguson, Wild, O’Neil, Byrne, Stevenson, Jackman, Shaughnessy, Lees, Bennett. Subs: Ogden, Graham, Shaw.

ROYTON TOWN: Fitzsimmons, Brooks, Simmons, Hulme, Bogan, Hatton, Yates, Caffrey, Moss, Dean, Trainer. Subs: Ruddock, Duffy, Titterington.