Hockey: Wigan Men's 2nds 0 - 3 Rochdale Men's 2nds

Photo: Rachel Jackson

Graham Broadley was named man of the match alongside forward Adam Boodeea and midfielder Manni Ahmed

Saturday 3 December saw Rochdale away at Wigan hoping to build on last week’s first away win of the season. Wigan were much higher in the table though and this game was a true 6-point game as the winner would pull away in third place in the league.

​It was a slow start from the away team though, as Wigan found some gaps early on and got into Rochdale’s circle several times in the opening five-ten minutes. Fortunately for Rochdale it was to no avail as some good defensive interceptions and saves from Dean Colusardo in the Rochdale goal kept Wigan out.

Gradually Rochdale started to get in gear and were soon having the better of the possession. This led to some good chances of their own, which unfortunately didn’t find the net. Wigan still posed a threat and nearly scored from a penalty corner, but a brilliant deflected clearance from Mikey Bohanna kept it out. 

Things started to get a bit end to end in the closing stages of the first half and goal looked likely for one team or the other. Fortunately for Rochdale a brilliant interception by Dave Marlow set up a counter down Rochdale’s right, allowing joint man of the match Adam Boodeea to link up with the midfield, resulting in Adam Massey getting a shot off with Boodeea there to make sure it went over line for his first of the season.

The half-time whistle was blown a minute or two after the restart. Rochdale went in with a 1-0 lead, but there was much that needed sorting out for the second half. A quick drink and some coaching points from Imran Ansari would make all the difference in the second half.

​Rochdale did a better job of soaking up some early pressure from Wigan in the second half and soon had some good attacks of their own. These resulted in a few penalty corners, two of which were converted. The first was a simple one two between Massey and Bjorn Brauns with Massey collecting it and pushing at backboard height, with the shot deflecting off a defenders stick before going into the net. The second was Kane Morgan injecting to Manni Ahmed, who squared it to Brauns, who beat a player and passed to Massey, who then passed it Morgan, who flicked it in to give Rochdale a three-goal lead.

​The game was largely Rochdale’s now, but there was still a long way to go and they were down to eleven players due to injury now. Some excellent and confident defending straight off the training ground would keep Wigan out though. Joint man of the match Graham Broadley did a good job of winning fouls and heading for the corner. Joint man of the match Ahmed did an excellent job of making himself available to break through Wigans high press in the late stages of the game. Final score Rochdale 3 Wigan 0.

​Captain Adam Massey said: “It was a good performance looking back on it, although we could have done with a sharper start to the game. There were a lot of positives, we defended well, kept possession and scored 3 goals against one of the best teams in the league.”

Man of the match was a three-way tie from all areas of the pitch between; forward Adam Boodeea, midfielder Manni Ahmed and defender Graham Broadley. This weekend's game is the final home game before the winter break against Didsbury Men’s 6ths.