Hockey: Rochdale Ladies 4 - 0 Manchester Moss Park Ladies

Rochdale (in blue) were hungry for another win

Rochdale Ladies were hoping to continue with their great form this weekend when they took on second place Moss Park.

Straight from the first whistle, Rochdale went on the attack, hungry for another win. Roisin Pickering, Paula McDonald, Gemma Hodcroft and Molly Barker were working tirelessly to get the ball up into the D which eventually paid off as a short corner was awarded. A pin point pass to the top of the D saw Pickering pick up the ball. It was passed about and then Katie Burrell very cleverly took a shot which left the Moss Park defence in no man’s land. 1-0 to Rochdale.

Moss Park picked up their pace after going 1-0 down and they showed some excellent attacking passing but Rochdale’s defence stood strong. Even after running a 10k in the morning, Sam Partington was determined to keep a clean sheet in goal.

At half time Rochdale made a few positional changes and on came ‘part time’ striker Jenny Banks and new player Becka Smith.

Fresh legs proved too much for Moss Park and their defence began to struggle to keep up. Pickering picked the ball up on the right wing after a clever pass by Dionne Collinson. She made a run down the wing and expertly passed it to Banks who was waiting in the D. Banks took one touch and then smashed it across the keeper’s path and into the back of the net. 2-0.

This gave Rochdale more confidence and they began to play some brilliant hockey. Nikki Mongan led the defensive line and confidently spread the play from the back up to the forward players.

It wasn’t long before Banks had bagged her second of the game. Hodcroft had passed to Burrell who managed to poke the ball to the on-rushing Banks. Banks’ shot slid under the feet of the keeper and snuck in. 3-0.

Rochdale were flying now, and nothing was going to stop them.

Confident defending followed by fantastic attacking play saw Moss Park running out of ideas. Ten minutes from the end, McDonald picked up the ball in the middle and passed to Banks, who was forced onto her reverse stick. Banks somehow managed to poke the ball through to Pickering, who was stood unmarked at the back post. 4-0.

Rochdale were now back to playing the high standard hockey they were capable of. Even the new players and the juniors were making their mark, and this was proving very positive.

Player of the Match went to Roisin Pickering.