Lancaster & Morecambe Thirds 1 - 2 Rochdale Seconds

Rochdale Seconds Men’s Hockey

Rochdale Seconds Men’s Hockey team were slow out of the blocks on Saturday away at Lancaster and from the off were forced on to the back foot but came away with a narrow victory.

With Rochdale struggling to both pick up the tempo or get their passing game going, it was Lancaster who took the lead with a well worked and deserved goal.

Rochdale equalised via a strong run through midfield from Imran Ansari and a committed dive from Josh Robinson - who deflected the ball in to the back of the net.

Lancaster controlled the rest of the ifirst half and Rochdale were lucky to go in to half time level.

Rochdale came out in the second half much more determined and although it was still a closely fought contest Rochdale gained control.

A fantastic performance from vice-captain Danny Ramsbottom at the back had already done enough to earn him the Quat-Chem man-of-the-match, but this was confirmed when he scored Rochdale’s second goal.

With ten minutes left Lancaster pushed on and threw all they had at Rochdale.

It certainly was a stern test for Rochdale, but defending from the front and as a team they held on and took all three points.

Captain Karl Wynn commented: "We are top of the division through hard work, and today we were complacent and it showed.

“Next week we need to be much, much better and every player in this team knows that and I have full confidence that they will be."