Northwich Victoria 0 - 5 Rochdale

Keith Hill’s new look Rochdale side came out comprehensive winners in their first pre-season game at a very warm Northwich Victoria.

After a warm weather training camp in Tenerife, Hill’s Rochdale side were well prepared for the temperatures at kick-off in the high 20s C.

The team selection was a mix of old and new with Steve Collis, Michael Rose, Joel Logan, Brian Barry-Murphy and Jamie Allen alongside new faces Ashley Eastham, Olly Lancashire, Scott Hogan, Bastien Hery, Peter Vincenti. Joe Bunney also started against his former side.

Dale raced into the lead with a scrappy Hogan goal from a corner whilst Michael Rose doubled the advantage soon after with a sublime free-kick.

Hogan netted two more for his hat-trick before half time.

The plethora of changes that usually accompany these games didn’t come from the visitors with just goalkeeper Collis replaced at half time, with trialist and former Celtic keeper Rob Thomson donning the gloves.

Rose added another free-kick midway through the second half to end the scoring as Hill gave run outs to Reece Gray and Godwin Abadaki as well as trialist defender Javan Vidal who came through the ranks at Manchester City.

A decent workout for the players on show and with the fixtures coming thick and fast over the next couple of weeks, the Dale fans are sure to see the other players who didn’t feature in this game.

Next game: Halifax (a) Saturday 13 July 3pm ko