Hockey: Rochdale Men's 2nds 1 - 7 South Manchester

Rochdale Men's 2nds Hockey

This Saturday (12 March) saw Rochdale hosting their second home game in as many weeks, this time against top of the table South Manchester. Hopes were high going in to the game, as despite a last-minute loss of Steve Hirst the home side had a strong line up and three substitutes.

The match started in the usual manner, with Rochdale keeping a high line and good possession, but struggling to contain counter attacks. South Manchester played with three forwards to keep Rochdale’s back line busy.

The home side had a couple of good chances early doors, with some fierce shots from the top of the D going frustratingly wide but it was South Manchester who opened the scoring after around ten minutes. One of their defenders picked off a stray Rochdale pass, allowing them to break out at pace down the home side's left channel. The ball was then worked in across the D and tapped in with ruthless efficiency by a side that knows what to do in the final third.

Heads did not drop on the home side and it would not be long before they had a chance to equalise. A hard shot rebounded off the diving South Manchester keeper, which was followed up with a flick at the open goal. It was read by one of the away teams’ defenders, but he was only able to block it with his body. Judged to be preventing a certain goal, a penalty flick was awarded by the eagle eyed and decisive umpire Steve Woolley. Unfortunately, however, the Rochdale striker had a rare blip and didn’t get enough power on the flick, being saved by the goalkeeper and the game restarted with a South Manchester 16 yard hit out.

The home team were still giving as good as they got in the first half, but a small bit of fortune would be capitalised on by the away side to double the advantage before half time. A good break down the Rochdale’s right, saw South Manchester’s tricky winger taking on a Rochdale centre back near the baseline inside the D. The Rochdale defender did make the tackle, but the ball came off his stick just enough for the South Manchester player to get a second attempt and feed a pass through to his team mate for another tap in.

It was touch and go at half time, but the home team kept it positive and were keen to play on despite being two goals down to the top of the league side. In fairness, at this stage there was not much in it other than two clinical finishes from a better drilled side who had trained more in what to do in the final third. South Manchester had yet to show their best and the home side had largely matched them at this stage.

Show their best they would though, as straight from the start of the second half the away team had identified the weak spots in the Rochdale defence and attacked them with conviction for the opening fifteen minutes of the second half that would put the game beyond Rochdale. Pushing the home team back into their own 23 metre zone and getting their forwards to make the in and out circular runs, that Rochdale had talked about doing themselves at half time, the away side pulled central defenders out wide, opened gaps and just simply knew where their players would be, where the gaps were and how to score three simple goals.

The away team were also doing an excellent job with setting their press up, with the home team unable to play out from the back, resulting in a lot of turn overs which set these simple goals up. Although Rochdale were now 5-0 down and the game was beyond them, they still worked hard for each other and tried to keep the passing game going. The home team did gradually get back in the game, but did concede one more from a penalty corner and another from a penalty flick.

The penalty flick came from an attack down Rochdale’s right with the winger receiving the ball on the baseline near the post. He knew what to do and started dribbling round the goalkeeper, who went for the ball but became tangled with the attacker and since he didn’t get the ball and ended up taking the player off his feet, a penalty flick was rightly awarded and duly converted.

It would not be all doom and gloom for the home side however, as Dean Close, who was unlucky not to score with a deflection a couple of minutes earlier, let off a thunderous strike into the backboard for a consolation goal. There was also an entry for tackle of the season, as Dave Marlow fearlessly stepped up towards a big South Manchester forward lining up a big hit. With great skill, timing and agility, he dinked the ball away from him with a lightning quick jab tackle and pirouetted over the swing from the hit, so as not to impede the forward, before gaining control of the ball and playing it away for a Rochdale counter attack.

The final score was 7-1 to South Manchester, which was a fair result at the end of the day. There were large spells where Rochdale did match South Manchester and showed some quality, but they train harder, had better basic skills and a better understanding of how to attack more effectively. While it was mostly an even game, they did have a good fifteen minute spell where they showed why they are at the top of the league.

There are three games left in the season now and while safety is only three points away potentially, Rochdale need to train more effectively and are probably better preparing for relegation. The team can hold their heads high though, as the lads have a put a good amount of effort in each week in a brutal season, in a very demanding and competitive league.