Poignant victory for Athletic

CLOSE CALL . . . Coppice United’s Shabir Ali (left) holds off Athletic’s Tom Woods.

FOOTBALL: 

JOHN GILDER

Coppice Utd 0, Failsworth Athletic 3
NIALL Sultan just can’t stop scoring - as he proved with a hat-trick of goals for Failsworth Athletic in the final of the Midas Plumbing and Heating Oldham Sunday League’s President’s Trophy.

When Athletic stalwart and league president Rodney Clarke handed over the trophy it was one of the most poignant moments I have witnessed in amateur football. This could well be the last-ever match for Failsworth Athletic following an amazing 38-year residency at the Oldham Sunday League.

The club will fold unless replacements can be found for outgoing and long-serving officials Mike Gibson and Graham Speakman.

Clarke, who has witnessed the development of one of the most respected Sunday clubs in the North-West, said: “It is sad in a way, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve made a lot of friends and it’s been a great experience.”

Speakman was close to tears when he said: “It really is an emotional afternoon. The nerves have got to the lads because they know that this may well be our last game.”

But it was a grand way to bow out, if that’s what it was. For 50 even minutes, Coppice United held up their end.

But natural-born goalscorer Sultan started to strike. His first was a spot-kick five minutes after half-time following an infringement by United’s Yasser Farooq. He followed up 11 minutes later with a strike from an acute angle, and took his third with a similar strike that had all the hallmarks of a

master-marksman.