A TEAM based at Lindley has been in the District League since its formation in 1898.

And although the name has changed slightly from Lindley Church to Lindley and finally to AFC Lindley, success has been very limited.

Under the name of the Church it won the Barlow Cup in 1946, the Groom Cup in 1953 and the following season, the Division Two title.

There was then a 16-year gap before their reserves won Division Four in 1970 and then a further 21 years before the first team won the same division. The last of the trophies was Division Four again in 1994.

With a record like that, the neutrals wouldn’t begrudge them another trophy, and this season could well be their turn.

Last season both of their teams finished fourth bottom of their divisions and the club had great difficulty fielding two teams every week.

As this season loomed, a decision had to made as to run one or two teams, but a surprise telephone call changed everything.

The call came from ex-Rochdale player Andy Smith. Previously he had been involved with coaching at the YMCA and when that relationship ended, he paid a visit to Heatherleigh one Saturday afternoon and noticed the lack of organisation.

He decided to offer his services and made that call to club treasurer Sean Woodhouse.

It was evident there was a lack of depth in the squad and Smith has recruited some players from local rivals Westend and YMCA.

This influx has had a knock-on effect on the rest of the club.

There is now a new culture and work ethic within the club, both on and off the field and this is starting to have an effect on results.

Forecasting the outcome of Division Four is always difficult because of the new teams – six this season – but it is a surprise to most that AFC Lindley have started with three successive wins.

Last week, they visited Moorside and came back with a 3-1 win. It was the home side that had the early domination but they were unable to break the Lindley defence.

Lindley’s first goal came when a deep cross from John Venters found the head of captain Richard Evans at the back post.

The second period started similar to the first with Moorside on top and equalising with a header of their own. Lindley then began to look more dangerous but were denied after a couple of goalmouth scrambles.

Substitute Anthony McMahon had scored seven for the reserves the previous week, which earned him his place on the first team bench, and he scored twice in the last 15 minutes to earn his side the maximum points and maintain their 100% record from three games.

The Reserves are matching the first teamers with a record of played two, won two.

Two of the new teams in this division met each other last week.

Aimbry had been members of the League before but have returned this season.

As they prepared to face Huddersfield United, Aimbry’s record was won three and drawn one from their four games. Huddersfield Utd had won only one of their four games and must have gone into the match as underdogs, but they finished as 3-1 winners.

Coach Jamal Jaber had coached many of the United’s squad when they were members of Yorkshire Lions Juniors and the players persuaded him to take them as an open-age team – hence Huddersfield United was born.

They decided that as the squad came from so many different districts, then they may as well call themselves Huddersfield.

The oldest player is only 21, with most of them about 18. He feels that the early-season results have been hindered with keeper Roman Halonka being unavailable for the first four games – the rest of the lads have taken it in turns to fill the keepers jersey.

Against Aimbry, United took a 1-0 lead into the interval following a Jordan McLeod effort – he beat two men before rounding the keeper.

Early in the second half, Jordan Jaber converted a Kadean Fogarty cross to extend the lead. Then a Tarazi strike narrowed the deficit back to one, but Yusuf Mujahid settled matters with a lob over the keeper five minutes from time.

There are joint leaders at the top of Division Four in Hade Edge (1-0 winners over bottom club FC Lockwood) and Brighouse OB (3-1 winners at Almondbury Woolpack). Both of these have won four and lost one of their five games.

In Division One, Shepley became the fifth team this season to lose to Hepworth United, but they can at least claim to be the first to break Hepworth’s defence in a 5-1 defeat.

Uppermill kept their 100% record with a 1-0 win over Holmbridge and Newsome are keeping up the presuure with a 6-3 victory over Diggle.

These top three are already five points clear of the fourth-placed team.