Dog & Partridge win Rochdale Online League Cup Final

Date published: 27/05/2005

In recent years, the Rochdale Online League Cup Final has rarely been without Dog & Partridge as one of the participants, but last season Dog failed to make the final and saw arch rivals, Littleborough, win the cup. Hence, Dog travelled to Heywood determined to complete a League and Cup double and reassert their grip on the League's main cup competition.

In contrast, Heywood Reform were competing in their first ever League Cup final, and with the final being played at the home of Heywood St James, had the majority of a sizeable crowd behind them.

The pitch was in excellent condition, the sun was shining and the scene was set for a glorious but very competitive cup final.

Reform started the better of the two teams and forced a free-kick well in the Dog half within minutes. The kick reached Reform captain, Kevin Bates, just inside the Dog penalty area, but the attention of John Luker was enough to put him off and he scuffed a tame shot straight to Dog keeper Ian Tyson.

Dog's first chance of the game came when Phil Prescott found Nick Dowsing hugging the touch line, he cut inside and played a good cross into Dog captain, Michael Barger, but he could not get enough on his header to trouble Reform keeper Lee Grogan.

Reform continued to press for an early goal and fullback Brian Maher made a good run on the overlap and delivered a cross that Tyson just managed to cut out before it reached Michael Weatherhilt who was waiting to head home at the far post.

Reform then won the first corner of the game and their refusal to be overawed by the occasion or by the League Champions was evident in the number of men they committed into the Dog penalty box. To no avail on this occasion as Kieran McCulloch's corner was far to deep and soared above the heads of attackers and defenders and was picked up and cleared by a grateful Dog defender, Mick Moody.

With just five minutes played Dog then suffered a blow as an injury to Chris Cooper forced an early substitution and he was replaced by veteran, Trevor Jepson.

Reform continued to play good football with their tenacious midfield winning the ball and distributing it well. Typical was a though ball from Blackledge that cut open the Dog defence and Tyson had to be double quick off his line to beat Craig Winter, who had an excellent game, to the ball.

Reform forced another corner, but again the delivery was poor and the chance was wasted, but there could be no doubting that they had not come just to make up the numbers and for the first ten minutes at least were the better side.

It was to be expected that Dog would start to find their feet and slowly but surely they began to get into their stride.

Man-of-the-match Dave Walsh split the Reform defence completely and played in Tony Luker in the penalty area but he skied his shot over when he should have done better!

Dowsing was beginning to find plenty of space on the touch line and Dog began to exploit this getting the ball to him on several occasions. He looked lively and was a constant thorn in the Reform side for most of the first half. His quick one-two with Barger, having received the ball for Tony Luker, gave him the opportunity to float in a decent cross that Reform keeper Grogan fumbled, but despite a goal mouth melee there was never any real danger to the Reform goal and Andrew Tinker cleared well.

Walsh was spearheading the Dog attack and he looked the part all the game. A great run half the length of the pitch past three Reform players saw him reach the penalty box before he was tackled and the ball went out for a corner. Davy Luker sent the corner to the far post and Barger headed back across the six yard box, but Grogan was quick off the mark to collect and stifle the danger.

The match had turned and Dog were now dominating and restricting Reform to the occasional counter attack.

Barger hit a ball the width of the field to Phil Prescott, his first time pass found Davy Luker and had his cross not been just too high for Dowsing we could have seen the goal the best move of the game so far deserved.

It was not all one way traffic and Reform continued to work hard, Tinker marshalling the defence well and playing simple but effective balls out to his midfield players. They in turn were getting the ball quickly to Weatherhilt up front and he always looked dangerous and kept Wayne Jopson well occupied.

Jopson it was who fouled Bryan Blackledge and gave away a free-kick five yards outside the box, but the resulting free kick was put out for a corner by Mick Moody. The corner was cleared, but only as far as Blackledge lurking on the edge of the box and he hit a good shot that Tyson did well to see and save.

With half an hour played, it was clear the game was going to be tight and that maybe a single goal would decide it; spectators were already talking about penalties!

Perhaps Dowsing heard, because the next ten minutes saw him put on a cameo performance. First he played Barger in on the six yard line and only a last ditch tackle by Tinker saved Reform from going behind at the cost of a corner. Dowsing took the corner with pinpoint accuracy straight to head of Walsh who was thwarted by Reform keeper Grogan literally punching the ball off his head! However, his clearance went straight to Jepson who spread the ball wide and back out to Dowsing who put in another cross, but this time it went just out of play above the cross bar.

Davy Luker almost embarrassed Grogan with a cross that turned into a shot and deceived the Reform keeper, but he managed at the second attempt to hold the ball.

Reform counter attacked and got the ball quickly up to Winter deep in the Dog half, his shot on the run ricocheted off Phil Prescott and was looping over Dog keeper Tyson, but he just managed to stretch his hand far enough to tip it over the bar.

End-to-end stuff as the half drew to a close and Dowsing had a shot that only just cleared the bar, before, at the other end, Jamie McCulloch sent Winter on another run and Jopson did well to tackle and win the ball.

Minutes before half-time the Reform manager was sent off by referee Bergin, who wasn't having one of his best games, for abusive language. Bizarrely, Bergin rescinded the sending off at half time and allowed the manager back on the Reform bench!

For all the chances in the first half, it was a cagey game and no real surprise that it ended goalless.

The start of the second half saw probably the worst period of the game as continual stoppages broke up the flow and it was a good ten to fifteen minutes before any action of real note took place when Davy Luker cut into the box from the wing and hit a shot into the Reform side netting.

Luker then played in Walsh on the edge of the box, but with Tinker bearing down on him, he hit his shot well over the bar.

Another chance quickly came Walsh's way courtesy of a low cross from Jepson and this time Walsh tried a first time volley only to see the ever present Tinker at the heart of the Reform defence block his goalbound attempt.

With Davy Luker on the ball, Mick Moody set off on the overlap and Luker sent the ball his way, Tinker yet again the man to cut out the danger and put the ball out for a throw in. Walsh threw to Barger, received the ball back, played back to Barger who had only Grogan to beat, but the Reform keeper saved well at his feet.

Fifteen minutes of the second half played and Reform came alive again and started competing better for the ball, and more importantly keeping possession when they won it. A good move through the middle ended with a shot from just outside the box by Kevin Bates just clearing the bar.

Blackledge and Weatherhilt then combined well and Blackledge's cross was on it's way to McCulloch before being well cut out by the head of Jopson. The ball came straight back as Reform piled on the pressure, but Jopson was again equal to the task and this time ran with the ball before playing a long pass up to Walsh who was tackled well by Tinker.

With Reform pouring men forward Dog counterattacked and forced a corner. Quickly taken by Walsh, he found Davy Luker at far post and his header back across the goal fooled everyone, including Reform keeper Grogan, and sneaked in the corner for the first goal of the game.

Reform refused to be cowed and were awarded a free kick that was headed clear by Jepson but only as far as McCulloch whose shot went well over.

Reform continued to press for the equaliser but could not find a way through a resolute Dog defence being led superbly by Jopson. Jopson found himself on the end of a very late tackle following a good clearance and Reform captain Bates can consider himself lucky that referee Bergin was in a lenient mood and let him off with a stern word.

If Dog felt hard done to by the referee's generosity, they quickly made Reform pay for it. Moody took the free kick from just outside his own box and found Walsh just inside the Reform half, he zipped a first time pass on to Davy Luker who in turn hit a first time cross with pinpoint precision to the unmarked Jepson on the other side of the area and he wasted no time in despatching the ball into the Reform net - the best move of the game by far, not a single Reform player touched the ball from Moody's free kick to Jepson putting Dog two up.

Dog went in search of a third to kill the game off and when the ball reached Walsh on the edge of the box and his turn took two Reform defenders out of the game it looked like they may do so, but Grogan came to Reform's rescue again with another good save.

With five minutes left to play it looked all over but Reform refused to give in and pressed more and more men forward.

Winter's cross was just too high for Weatherhilt and was cut out by Dog keeper Tyson, before a bad mistake by Prescott allowed Weatherhilt in one-on-one with keeper Tyson, who did well to block Weatherhilt's shot and put it out for a corner. Reform pushed virtually every man forward looking for a goal and a good corner to the near post nearly caught Dog out, but John Luker managed to clear.

Back came Reform again and an excellent through ball by Brian Maher to Weatherhilt on the edge of the area gave Weatherhilt the opportunity to show his skill. He turned superbly to make space for himself and fired off a shot into the bottom corner that gave Tyson no chance to set up a thrilling final few minutes as Reform sensed they could yet force an equaliser and take the game to extra-time.

However, it was not to be, despite Reform's best efforts, and in fact in committing so many men forward in search of the equaliser they left themselves stretched at the back and were fortunate not to lose a goal when Walsh went on another good run, cut inside, turned and put in an excellent cross to unmarked substitute Chris McCarroll who should have scored but hit the bar. The ball rebounded straight to the feet of Jepson who also should have buried the ball in the back of the net but somehow contrived to shoot wide when he should have buried it.

The final whistle quickly followed and the the Dog players set off in celebration. The jubliant Dog supporters included Dog old boys Graham Garside and Malcolm Journeaux, whose father's set the club up back in the eighties.