Hockey: Wigan 5 - 4 Rochdale Men's 1sts

Keeper Jimmy Deacy was named man of the match

Looking to build on last week's performance away at Wigan, Dale made a great start to their game on Saturday 30 September. Straight from the pushback Dale attacked down the right, first through right back Dan Bowe, then through a pass by Michael Waddicor into the D for Aaron Hunter to open the scoring within a minute.

Dale have been making a habit of conceding within minutes of scoring in recent matches and today was more of the same. Helped out by some questionable umpiring decisions it was soon 1-1; Dale conceding from short corner on the rebound after saves by keeper Jimmy Deacy.

It was a game played from D to D in the first half. Dale living dangerously by turning over the ball far too often but looking more than capable of scoring themselves. Dale soon took a 2-1 lead through captain Waddicor who scored with a neat finish from a short corner.

Old habits came to haunt Dale again as they conceded straight after scoring once again. This time from a penalty flick after a foul on the Wigan attacker who had a clear goal scoring opportunity, with the umpires failing to pick up on the player kicking the ball in the build up to the goal.

Rochdale took the lead again before halftime through Aaron Hunter whose instincts in the D had him in the right place to slot home at close range. Dale however couldn't hold onto the lead again, conceding from a penalty corner with the last touch of the half.

The second half started as the first had finished. Dale giving the ball away far too often, but scoring their 4th goal of the game through Scott Jones on the left slip option on the penalty corner routine.

Lessons again were not learnt and Wigan levelled shortly after on the break after giving the ball away. Rochdale just couldn't keep the ball and kept turning over possession cheaply. Wigan started to tighten the screw and scored a fifth goal that ended up as the winner. Rochdale toiled, but never really deserved anything from the game. It's back to the drawing board next week at home to Southport.

Man of the match, keeper Jimmy Deacy said after the game. "I don't think we can really count ourselves unlucky today, the opposition deserved to win. We were sloppy across the pitch and didnt have an answer in the end. It's disappointing not to build on last week's performance. We'll need to work on our concentration levels, as we keep handing the initiative back to the other team by conceding so soon after scoring."

Dale are at home to Southport on Saturday 7 October at 2pm.