Hockey: Rochdale Ladies 3 - 0 Didsbury Northern Ladies

Gemma Hodcroft (right) scored Rochdale's third goal

Despite a chilly start on Saturday 1 March, the sun came out for Rochdale's match against Didsbury Northern 6ths, and Rochdale Ladies brought a similarly upbeat attitude to their match as they came to prove their last couple of losses were just a bump in the road.

Rochdale started strong with a fast series of passes between Hodcroft and Pickering down the right wing to bounce the ball between them and give them space to evade the opposition and get into the D to create an opportunity for a goal. Instead they won a short corner but were unable to capitalise on it. However, as Didsbury made to clear the ball Leech was able to intercept it and feed it back up to Hodcroft who weaved her way back into the D and took her shot to land the first goal of the match.

Most of the first half took place within Didsbury's half of the pitch, with Rochdale mostly in control of the play as they fought for every ball; they hassled and intercepted whenever they lost possession. This meant that they created several opportunities for a goal - such as a reverse hit from Burrell that hit the right post and a lifted shot from Lyssejko towards the top left corner that came off the crossbar - but unfortunately weren't able to find a way into the net. Didsbury were able to break towards Rochdale's goal a few times, even earning themselves a short corner right at the half time whistle, but Rochdale defended it well with Leech launching herself out towards the top of the D to tackle the ball and hit it out of play.

Determined to increase their goal lead, Rochdale kept up their pace and effort throughout the second half. A right wing run from Pickering ended with her passing the ball off to Hodcroft, who took a shot at the goal, only to be denied by the keeper. Burrell was in place for the rebound and pushed the ball towards the far left post, a defender ran to try and get control of the ball right on the baseline, but a precision jab from Black defeated her efforts and she scored Rochdale's second goal.

Didsbury were able to break through towards Rochdale's goal a bit more in the second half, but Rochdale were ready for them every time, with either Hoyle or Knowles channelling them out or Moon and Leech intercepting them as they tried wider angles of attack. Their readiness allowed Rochdale to get back on the offensive fast, such as with a series of fast deflection passes from Knowles at the top of the D to Moon and up to McDonald deep in the midfield.

An intercept from Burrell near the top of Didsbury's D was passed off to Hodcroft, who ran out wide before crossing the ball into the D right into the path of Parton, who took a shot but the keeper saved it, Black got the rebound for her own shot and the ball went just wide of right post. Similarly a switch from Leech all the way across to Moon who then fired it up for Pickering to run onto before hurtling up the right wing was crossed into the D again, but no one had enough time to get a touch to deflect it in.

Rochdale's tenacity as they kept play high in Didsbury's half finally paid off with a sideline free hit, Pickering took it and handed it off to Hodcroft as she kept her run to draw out the defender after her. With the newly free space, Hodcroft ran with the ball into the D and passed it to Burrell near the penalty spot, who dropped and swept her stick low to hit the ball into the back of the goal.

Rochdale kept fighting for another goal right until the final whistle, with Black holding her ground at the very top of the right wing before passing the ball back to McDonald who was able to fire it back into the D. Hodcroft has another run down the midfield before passing the ball to Burrell who fired it towards the far post only for Didsbury's defence to prevent anyone getting a deflection.

Rochdale won another short corner after a stray long ball towards Rochdale's half was intercepted by Knowles and she slammed it back up the pitch to Moon, who pinged it to Burrell who then passed it to Pickering who ran it down and into the D right along the baseline, but was fouled before she could hand the ball off - but Rochdale weren't able to score from it.

The final score was 3-0, with Lily Black (1), Katie Burrell (1) & Gemma Hodcroft (1) as Rochdale's goal scorers.

The player of the match was Paula McDonald.

Captain Sam Partington said: "What an amazing game of hockey, the passing was fantastic, we fought for every ball and had some awesome cross pitch play. And I don't think I touched the ball once!"

Rochdale's team:
Keeper; Sam Partington
Defence; Claire Hoyle, Becky Knowles, Kieran Leech & Becki Moon
Midfield; Gemma Hodcroft, Paula McDonald, Daisy Parton & Roisin Pickering
Forwards; Lily Black & Katie Burrell
Substitutes: Fee Lyssejko