Blackpool 3 - 6 Rochdale Seconds

Rochdale Men's Hockey Club seconds

Looking to keep the top spot going in to the autumn break Rochdale Men's Hockey Club Seconds went to Blackpool with a weakened side.

With injuries taking their toll, Rochdale travelled with only nine men and a disciplined performance was needed to try and at least come back with a point.

Playing with a 3-3-2 formation, with the Robinson brothers Josh and Luke back leading the line, they needed to be clinical.

Josh Robinson opened the scoring within five minutes, closely followed by brother Luke. 

During the second half, the weakened nine man Rochdale team began to tire and a more defensive line up was needed with Josh Robinson dropping into midfield.

Blackpool scored twice to make it 5-3 but with a final reply from Rochdale the match ended 6-3. The last two goals coming from Imran Ansari and Dean Close.

Rochdale captain, Karl Wynn was delighted with the nine man performance and commented: "This keeps us top, but with only three points separating the top four teams we have still got everything to play for.

"We have a week’s break now to get everyone fit and then we face a difficult game against third place Preston."