Hockey: Rochdale Men’s Seconds 3 - 2 Formby Men’s Fourths

Captain Karl Wynn scores the winning goal - Rochdale Men’s Seconds v Formby Men’s Fourths

Rochdale Men’s Seconds won a hard fought mid-table clash against  Formby Men’s Fourths on Saturday.

Formby have a formidable set up and having already faced the third team earlier this season, which had ended in defeat for Rochdale, they had a good idea of what was in store.

True to form Formby dominated the opening 10 minutes with Rochdale struggling to make any head way in to the Formby half.

When Rochdale did gain any foothold, they tried to play it too clever for their own good and Formby were managing to pick the ball off them with ease. Breaking quickly, in numbers and attacking the isolated Rochdale fullbacks.

Eventually Formby did break the deadlock from a well worked move down the Rochdale left to the baseline, crossing the ball in to the D and giving the Rochdale keeper little chance.

The goal flattened Rochdale spirits, but as they began to move the ball around quickly and play simple hockey, Rochdale possession moved further up the field.

Keeping the ball away from the experienced Formby back four left them chasing shadows and when it was moved quickly Rochdale could take full advantage and Bjorne Brauns equalised with a well taken goal.

Formby continued to press the Rochdale back four attacking at speed, and a mistake by Dave Jackson led to Formby long corner. Once again they worked the ball around to the base line and played a cross in to the Rochdale D and eventually the back of the net.

In the second half Rochdale began to take the game by the scruff of the neck and not be intimidated by Formby’s older more experienced players.

As the game heated up so did Rochdale’s attacking play and Brauns was unlucky on several occasions not to double his tally.

Rochdale had already had a couple of short corners in the second half, but when Brauns won another, Ansari changed the play. Moving to receive the ball from D top, Josh Robinson injected, changed the angle for his shot and the Formby keeper didn’t see it coming.

At 2-2 Rochdale were now in the driving seat, the momentum was with them and attack after attack came as Formby dropped further and further back.

Indiscipline creeped in to the Formby midfield and they saw their talisman green carded and sent off for two minutes to calm down.

Rochdale took full advantage of the extra man, gaining another short corner and up stepped captian Karl Wynn. In a routine worked out on the training ground, Robinson injected and using both Ansari and Andy Meanock as decoys the ball went straight through to Wynn. With a sweet drive, the ball smashed in to the backboards and with just six minutes to go Rochdale led the game for the first time.

Formby threw everything at Rochdale with a series of short corners right up to the final whistle. Each one charged down time after time by Luke Rosebury, who had been outstanding all afternoon, to ensure Rochdale prevailed.

Taking all three points means Rochdale retain fourth place in the league just two points off third. 

Bjorne Brauns, who scored the opening goal and was a constant thorn in Formby’s side all game, took the Quat-Chem man-of-the-match award.

Captain Karl Wynn: “Saturday was a great victory for us.

"This division is so tight that you can go from fighting for a top three position to fighting relegation with in a couple of results.

"I was particularly pleased that we didn’t give up and the hard work paid off with a victory.

"This was a very special day for me personally, I scored my first, but hopefully not last, goal for the club and I want to take this opportunity to thank all those who have helped and worked with me on many cold dark nights on the training ground.”