Waterhead Warriors, the pride of Oldham, and NCL premier division club Mayfield, the pride of Rochdale, will go head to head in the Standard Cup Final at Boundary Park on Saturday, March 30 (11.45AM kick-off) in a repeat of last year’s final at Manor Park.
This Easter Saturday showdown, won last year by Mayfield, will attract a big crowd to the town’s best and biggest stadium judging by the number of parked cars that packed the streets around two local sporting venues on Saturday when Waterhead and Mayfield booked their places for the big day.
Waterhead suffered a blow before their home tie against Saddleworth Rangers when a joy-rider cut up parts of their public park pitch. There was early talk of the tie perhaps being switched to Counthill, but it went ahead at Melrose in Chadderton, a facility Oldham RLFC want to convert into a vast sporting hub for all the local community.
Melrose has its issues, but overall it has fantastic potential which the Oldham club’s Foundation intends to put to good use. This was Waterhead’s time though and they grasped the opportunity to showcase the club with a terrific performance to conquer a young Saddleworth side 28-6, writes ROGER HALSTEAD.
Star of the Waterhead show — discounting camera man Geoff Owen, of course — was hat-trick winger Matthew Fogarty, a slimline 18-year old playing for Oldham at Whitebank when I first came across him back in the day, now a heavier and more rotund 31-year-old who has lost none of his old skill and expertise,
Not as fast as he was in the old days, but heavier, stronger and still with an eye for a try, as he was to show thrice here as Waterhead finished worthy winners.
Full-back Jensen Hamilton and centre Matthew Holland scored the other Waterhead tries, the former after a stunning break by Keegan Brennan, and Hamilton converted four of therm.
For the record, Haydn Enziano scored a try and Charlie McManus kicked the goal for Rangers, who tried desperately hard but, sadly, lacked the poise and polish of their opponents.
My ’eyes’ at the other game — St Anne’s v Mayfield — were provided by the Oldham Amateur League’s long-serving secretary Phil Bradbury, who said the score, 32-4 to Mayfield, didn’t reflect how much Saints put into the game and how well they played against a superior side from two divisions higher in the NCL.
Nevertheless, Mayfield go through to set up what should be a great final in swish surroundings. Roll on Easter week-end.
