Hockey: Bury Men's 2nds 3 - 1 Rochdale Men's 2nds

Rochdale captain Adam Massey (right)

The game between Bury and Rochdale on Saturday 26 February was a relegation dogfight with both teams at the wrong end of the table. Both sides rightly regarded it as a six pointer and they were well up for it, however, it would be the away team that started the brighter.

This was largely due to Rochdale playing five in midfield, which allowed them to dominate the play there having the better of the opening chances. The best of these was probably when captain Adam Massey squared the ball to Kane Morgan a little north of the P spot, but Morgan was unaware as to how much time he had, and his first-time strike went wide.

Bury did create a few chances of their own early on, doing a good job of releasing their forwards early, to try and exploit the away teams high back line. It was when Rochdale switched to a 4-4-2 that the balance of play shifted slightly in Bury’s favour, as losing the extra man in midfield gave them more space and time in this area. One of the best chances came from a Bury counter attack that played one of their forwards through on goal from only a few yards out. He struck a fierce shot but the brilliant Dean Colusardo pulled off a blinding save to only concede a long corner from it.

The warning signs were there though and though Bury’s attacks were less frequent, they were looking threatening with some good individual skill. Their first goal was not long in coming, with a deflected shot spilling out from another save to a 50/50 situation. Unfortunately for Rochdale the defender panicked a little, conceding a stick tackle with the umpire rightly signalling for a penalty corner. On the penalty corner, although the number one runner was out early, the forward managed to round him and hit an expert reverse stick shot into the bottom corner for a good opening goal.

It led to a bit of a storm from Bury, but eventually Rochdale started settling down and playing the better hockey. However, Affan Burki got involved with the Bury captain resulting in them both being shown a yellow. Burki is always a big presence in Rochdale’s midfield and he was sorely missed for the remainder of the first half. Thankfully it was not long before half time came and the late arrival of Bjorn Braun boosted spirits. With a good team talk and some fresh legs, it looked like the away team had a good chance of turning around the one goal deficit. However, it was not to be.

Rochdale started well, but were unable to get into the game due to discipline problems. It was early in the second half when Rochdale’s captain was given a green card for catching someone with his elbow. They lost the powerhouse of Brauns to a yellow card soon after, and the umpires began to lose control. In an effort to regain control the home umpires called both teams in and gave them a talking too, which seemed to work.

The game started again and Rochdale didn’t do badly considering they were two players down. However, Bury’s extra man power showed and a ball found its way through to a Bury forward who hammered it into the roof of the net with a fierce reverse stick strike. Another goal put the game to bed with a well worked attack down the wing finding a man free near the back post for a tap in.

Rochdale would not leave empty handed though, as the irrepressible Burki was awarded a penalty flick. He did have to take it twice, but the second attempt was more spectacular as it flicked into the roof of the net off the post to give Rochdale a consolation goal. There was one more green card for the captain due to back chat from his own player on the side-line, but things had largely calmed down by the end of the match.

It was a frustrating day at the office for Rochdale, who really needed the 3 points if they are to avoid relegation. A task not yet impossible but made much more difficult by today’s defeat. This was another difficult match that Rochdale probably should have got more out of, but they just have to dig deep and try and cause an upset at Horwich next weekend.