Olympic fan strikes club gold

Rushall Olympic have more to celebrate this Sunday than being top of the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League.

Pics fan Keith Mason is also £500 richer after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Stafford Rangers after Rushall teamed up with Bolton Wanderers on a new fans lottery to raise funds for the Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division's league leaders.

The Championship outfit sponsored Saturday's home game to mark the fan's windfall which arrived after Olympic's General Manager Terry Brumpton successfully launched the Goldline lottery for supporters at Dales Lane with the Championship outfit’s Promotions Manager Andrew Dean.

To celebrate the fundraising lottery’s latest winner and the sponsorship partnership, Bolton’s former Pics star Zat Knight got together with the club mascot Lofty the Lion and Promotions Manager Dean, pictured, to make the official cheque handover at the Reebok Stadium.

For £1 a week fans entering the Goldline lottery get ten shots at winning £500 weekday prizes and four entries into the weekly £5000 rollover draw with 70p from every pound going directly into Rushall's coffers.

Meanwhile, Rushall manager Neil Kitching expressed his delight at his team's performance today [Sunday] against Stafford Rangers despite having to settle for a draw.

The Pics dominated for long periods and Kitching had plenty of positives to reflect on, including a debut for Jordan Fitzpatrick in midfield and Gavin Caines' maiden goal for the club.

Kitching told Pitchero: "I'm happy we got a point because we lost two on the bounce previously in the league. After the second half performance we should of got three points. We dominated possession, limited Stafford to a few opportunities. If we'd taken our chances early in the second half I'm confident we would of won the game.

"For the first 25 minutes we totally dominated the game with goalscoring opportunities from the word go. We scored a good team goal with great set up play but should really have gone on and scored a second. We took our foot of the gas a little which gave Stafford momentum and they took their goal.

"The way we start games is excellent, I told the lads we just need to extend our presence on the game for longer periods. For me, everyone put in a shift, Jordan Fitzpatrick was excellent in the middle on his debut. He gave us some creativity, ran with the ball and showed a lot of quality. I'm pleased with them all really for a solid showing but Jordan stood out for me and I'm pleased for Gavin who took his first goal for the club well."