Hockey: Bowden Men's 6ths 5 - 5 Rochdale Men's 2nds

Saturday 8 October saw Rochdale return to away action after a two-week gap, due to last week’s home game needing to be rearranged. The conditions were overcast with bursts of sunshine and it was quite warm for autumn.

Rochdale were unable to warm up properly before the game, owing to facility issues, but improvised well and made decent use of the small amount of pitch time before the game started. Rochdale’s squad was mostly carrying injuries but did manage to field two substitutes. Bowden’s line up appeared a good mix of veterans and promising juniors. The game would begin with the home side Bowden getting the push back.

​Rochdale started with their half court press, to try and deny the opposition the ability to penetrate deep into the Rochdale half. It worked well in the opening exchanges, with the away team able to win the ball and retain possession in the opposition’s half. It was not long before Rochdale had won their first penalty corner, but though they would get the opening goal, it would not come from this. Instead, it would come from a Rochdale counter attack.

This is because Bowden started to leave one of their wingers high, to try and prevent Rochdale’s full backs from joining the attack. This strategy showed promise early on, as when their defence cleared the lines, they could get the ball to the wingers which allowed them to start winning the energy exchange in midfield and start keeping the away side pegged back a little. However, it worked against them for the opening goal, as Rochdale played a quick 16 yard hit out down the left channel to beat Bowden’s press. Some quick and direct passing from midfield, got the ball to centre forward Adam Massey, who committed the keeper before slipping the ball to athletic machine Ste Hirst to smash it home for the opening goal.

Bowden never roll over easily though and especially not at home. With a proud hockey history and a first team in the premiership division, a good understanding of the game goes all the way down the club. Through being able to play higher, they dropped the press back a little and applied it when the ball was wide on the 23m line leaving the full backs no, or little, in the way of options. This led to some good opportunities, one of which saw their winger penetrate inside Rochdale’s circle and slip a ball back towards two players for an almost certain goal. Somehow though the ball struck centre back Graham Broadley’s foot, resulting in a penalty corner and a personal penalty of a green card as it was deemed deliberate. Guessing the umpire wouldn’t believe he was practicing his ice skating; he went off without complaint for his two-minute penalty.

The penalty corner was successfully defended, with James Trainor doing a great job as first runner, but with a man down Rochdale started to come under increasing pressure and a few more penalty corners followed. One of these went in from a decent straight strike from the top of the circle that found the backboard to bring the home team level. It was going to be difficult for Rochdale for the remainder of the half, even after getting back to a full eleven. It was not long before Bowden added a second.

It may have taken their veterans a while to get in the away team’s circle, but when they did they were lethal. Attacking in a functionally tight pack, they broke into the gap between midfield and defence just outside Rochdale’s circle. The defence pushed up, trying to close the ball down and block the pass. Unfortunately, a well struck hit in the centre backs weak spot found the forward for a deflected goal at the near post. A good goal from a club with a good pedigree. It would not be over for Rochdale yet this half, as they conceded another before time, again from a penalty corner. This time it was the slip that caught the Dale out, finding enough room to get a smart shot into the bottom corner.

Half time and Rochdale were 3-1 down. It looked pretty bleak as they haven’t scored more than thre goals in a game for over a year. The team did not despair though and captain Adam Massey just calmly talked the lads through the strategy for the second half. Determined to do better the lads came out with a good fighting spirit and looked for a way back into the game. They wouldn’t have long to wait for a goal from the captain.

A strong start and a high line allowed Rochdale to play more in Bowden’s end of the pitch in the second half. The forward line was making more penetrating runs behind defenders and giving them much more serious problems than in previous weeks. This helped the midfield to get in better positions to make more deadly passes, which was key to the away side’s fight back. The first goal back came from some confident play with tight stick control playing around the home team’s lines. Eventually it was worked to Adam Massey, who received the ball with his back to a defender just left of the P spot. He spun out and pushed it though a crowd of bodies into the bottom corner to get one back past an unsighted keeper.

The fightback was not going to be so straight forward though, as Bowden sort to regain control of the game and applied pressure on the Rochdale defence. A bad decision from a 16 resulted in Bowden getting possession in the middle of the pitch. They still had a bit to do, but the old boys knew what they were doing and played it through fast and direct, the momentum just carrying them through to bring the core back to 4-2. Rochdale were not beaten though and did not let their heads drop.

Learning from the mistakes and getting the distribution back wide, they started to dictate the play again and most of the next 15 minutes was played in Bowden’s half. It was a tight defence to come up against, but Rochdale’s forward line kept their composure. The third goal was a bit scrappy, with a shot being half blocked before the hungry wolf Josh Robinson pounced on it with a full-length dive and slap hit it into the bottom corner to bring the deficit back to one.

​Bowden made it a contest throughout and were constantly trying to find ways to extend their lead. The Rochdale midfield however, did an excellent job of stopping counter attacks before they started by quickly quashing the ball carrier or intercepting stray passes. This allowed Rochdale to really keep the pressure on for large spells and force a few penalty corners of their own. Although it was not directly from a penalty corner, the fourth goal came from one spilling out wide on the right before being recycled back in, finding Massey just inside the circle with enough room to slap hit it into the backboard to level the score.

​The score now even, Bowden tried harder than ever to force a way through the Rochdale lines. As the midfield started to tire a little, frequent man of the match winner Dave Marlow stepped up and shone. Making frequent interceptions and tackles around or even over the halfway line. Rochdale’s full backs were now contributing to the attack, but the fifth goal would largely be thanks to a solo effort from the South African power house Bjorn Brauns. With the game opening up, he won the ball on the centre circle and weighed up his options. Acting on impulse he drove straight at them and shrugged off challenges from about 5 or 6 grown men with the same lack of concern a stampeding Ox does for stray pigeons. Arriving at the top of the opposition's circle, he unleashed a decent strike towards goal that went through the defence. Captain Adam Massey was taking no chances about the keeper saving it though and deflected it into the bottom corner to make sure.

Rochdale had fought hard to get back into the game and even harder to get in front. They held out till the last five, but the pressure from Bowden was quite good as they forced another penalty corner. It was defended a few times at the cost of another penalty corner, but at the third attempt Bowden found the back of the net with a hit. It was initially thought to be lifted but it was deemed to have been raised off a defenders stick and the goal stuck to earn Bowden a draw at the final whistle.

It was a good game, with a lot of effort and desire shown from both teams. The lads did really well to dig in and battle back from 3-1 and 4-2 down to get their first point of the season away from home. This was a much better performance second half, that shows how much the team has improved during pre-season training thanks to the effort they put in before the season started. Well played to Bowden men’s 6’s as well, it was definitely a good game for the neutrals.

Next week opponents are Leigh Men’s 1st at home, Oulder Hill leisure centre (behind the swimming pool), push back is at 1.30pm and any support would be appreciated.