Hockey: Rochdale Firsts 4 - 3 South Lakes Firsts

Rochdale Hockey Firsts

This was another hard fought win for Rochdale as for the second game in a row Rochdale only had 11 men and to make matters worse, a car accident on route meant that Rochdale played the majority of the game with only ten players.

South Lakes started the brighter of the two sides with the extra man being the difference.

Rochdale did manage to attack South Lakes on the break repeatedly with runs from Michael Waddicor, Keiran King and James Shepherd.

South Lakes who were unlucky not to take the lead after James Deacy in the Rochdale goal saved an initial shot. Deacy then saved a number of rebounds with lighting fast reactions to keep the game goalless.

A Waddicor run that broke the dead lock; running half the pitch he picked out King who fired a shot into the bottom left to make it 1-0 to Rochdale.

Waddicor was again the creator of King's second goal as he picked the ball off the South Lakes defender and found King free at the top of the D to finish, this time in the bottom right.

South Lakes did have their chances, but Rochdale's back line of Danny Ramsbottom, Mark Eden, Andy Borritt and Mark Vynne continued to stop their forward line from creating too many.

As time passed 10 man Rochdale began to tire and South Lakes eventually found the back of the net to make it 2-1 at half time.

When t second half started, Rochdale legs looked heavy from the hard first half.

South Lakes began to make ground and took their chance to equalise when the Rochdale defence fell asleep leaving a player open in front of goal for an easy tap in.

South Lakes looked likely to get a third as Rochdale began to lose momentum. Having one man short and no substitutions was really telling, and they were not helped when Waddicor went down with a rib injury. Leading by example he stayed on to help out as best he could in midfield.

South Lakes got their chance and took it to take the lead for the first time in the game.

A bit of luck came Rochdale’s way when the ball fell kindly to Shepherd in open play around the 25 yard line. He turned a midfielder, and then weaved between two defenders before smashing the ball past the keeper to make it 3-3.

With 10 minutes remaining, Rochdale's 11th man Rob Lees arrived and he made an instant impact, lifting their spirts and giving them fresh legs.

With one minute left on the clock, Waddicor dribbled into the D and won a penalty corner. Up stepped Mark Eden to smash a shot into the bottom left corner to win the game for Rochdale and crush South Lakes hopes.

Rochdale Captain Michael Waddicor said: "A real battle having played all but the last 10 minutes with only ten men. It’s been a real test and I am proud to be part of a team that never gives up. James Deacy made several saves to keep us in the game, and Danny Ramsbottom also made a goal line clearance. I would have to give the Oulderhill Leisure Centre man-of-the-match jointly to Keiran King and James Deacy, who were both outstanding all day.”