Hockey: Rochdale Men's 2nds 1 - 1 City of Manchester Men's 3rds

Photo: Rachel Jackson

Man of the match Dave Marlow

Rochdale Men’s 2nds hosted City of Manchester Men’s 3rds at Oulder Hill Leisure Complex on Saturday 28 September in their first home game of the season. It was a good day for it weather-wise and the home side had something to prove this week. One of the most stinging criticisms of last week's defeat, was that the lads didn’t want it enough or showed the opposition to much respect. It was important to captain Adam Massey to put this to rights early on in the season, but would the lads deliver?

​The tactics from the off were much more aggressive than last week. It was the same formation, a back three, but even the centre backs were taking it in turns to get forward. Manchester found themselves under a lot of early pressure and analysis of the possession statistics showed most of the lost possession was inside the Manchester third. Bjorne Brauns threw some excellent crossfield aerial balls and Rochdale created a lot of chances, but were unable to convert in the first half.

​It was not quite all one way traffic, Manchester created probably fewer but better-quality chances when they did. The best one was a break down Rochdale’s right, which culminated in a cross to the back post for an open net tap in. Fortunately for the home side, Manchester's number 99 was a little too eager, got his body caught in an awkward position and was unable to adjust, the ball sailing out harmlessly for a 16-yard hit out.

The first half finished without much more to report. There was no cards or disciplinary issues, thanks to the expert umpiring of Imran Ansari and Mohamed Dilshad Mir, who made sure that tempers didn’t flare up too much. Which was an excellent job, as it was a wonderful display of competitive hockey in the first half (it was even better in the second).

​Rochdale started the second half in fine form. They were playing high and laying siege to the Manchester goal. The tireless efforts of the team, led by captain Massey, were creating chance after chance. The boys in orange were getting closer and closer, but were unable to convert. It wasn’t all one-way traffic again though, as Manchester had quick, strong lads bursting through on the break. Some excellent defending, including slide tackles (safe ones) and an amazing double save by returning goal keeper Dean Close largely kept Manchester at bay, until they managed to get a short spell of possession. A moment of madness allowed a gap to open up for Manchester to exploit and fire a cross, to former Rochdale player Steve Hirst, who deflected it into the bottom corner with his back to goal, which gave Manchester the lead.

It was a devastating blow for Rochdale who had put everything into the game so far. For a moment it looked like the team might break down and they would just crumble again. Fortunately, Brauns, Andy Meanock and Kane Morgan were on hand to provide immediate leadership to get the midfield to stay strong, the rest followed.

Rochdale had proved they could match Manchester so far; they just needed the goal to get a result to match the performance. It was not too long in coming. Again, the momentum was with the home side, as the crowd started to will the ball into the Manchester net. The away team were penned back, but their goalkeeper was outstanding, making some great saves. Eventually though, captain Massey kept a calm head to clean up a rebound around the penalty spot. A softer shot saw the keepers save spill about six metres out and central. There was much to do, but instead of panicking, Massey calmly flicked it reverse stick, just over the keeper’s weaker foot to level the scores.

With a good ten minutes to play, the game could have gone either way. Rochdale successfully defended several penalty corners and created more chances of their own. Towards the end though they remembered the coach’s advice and kept enough back to earn a point, even if it did mean doing sliding interceptions on the Manchester 23m line, to prevent a last-minute counter.

The final score was Rochdale 1 - 1 Manchester.

​This week was a fantastic response from the squad and a fantastic exhibition of hockey that went down well with the crowd.

Man of the match was Dave Marlow, who deserved it for a strong, dedicated and disciplined performance at the back.