Hockey: Rochdale Ladies 0 - 4 Stockport Bramhall Ladies

Photo: Rachel Jackson

Becky Knowles (left) was named player of the match

Rochdale Ladies hockey team played top of the table, Stockport Bramhall 2nds, at home on Saturday 15 October. The team knew it would be a challenge but one they weren’t going to shy away from.

The game started with both teams getting stuck in from the offset. Rochdale used short sharp passes to weave around the Stockport defence which worked well and meant Rochdale had a lot of chances in the attacking D. Unfortunately, despite some great crosses from upfront player, Becky Knowles, none made it to a goal.

Despite this, right winger Roisin Pickering and middle players Gemma Hodcroft and Paula McDonald worked hard at getting the rebounds. This was aided by left winger Arabella Yates and upfront player Katie Burrell.

Stockport were keen to get a goal, they haven’t been used to waiting for results after they’ve had such a good start to the season however, each counterattack was denied by Rochdale's formidable defensive setup - Gill Owen, Claire Hoyle, Kie Leech and Dionne Collinson. Not long before half time a short corner was awarded to Rochdale, despite a brilliant set play, Knowles attempt at goal narrowly went wide.

Stockport then took their opportunity to go for goal before the half time whistle sounded. Despite a whole team effort, tracking players down the pitch, the ball ended up in the back of the net and the first half ended 1-0.

The second half saw Daisy Parton share the left wing position with Yates. This decision meant Rochdale had fresh legs from Parton and Yates who both played an integral part during the game when they were on the pitch. Again, it wasn’t long before Rochdale were hassling Stockport and forcing them to move the ball into difficult situations. This led to many interceptions which were handed off to Knowles and Lily Black into the D.

Momentum was high and Rochdale found themselves putting more and more into the play. However, as fatigue started to set in Stockport took advantage. Three goals were scored in quick succession despite the valiant efforts of Rochdale’s defence. Rachael Richardson was brought on for the last 10 minutes upfront. Richardson hassled well and became a nuisance to Stockport which awarded us more opportunities.

Despite this the game ended 4-0 with Rochdale coming away satisfied with their performance.

Captain Collinson said: “A 4-0 loss against the top of the table? We’ll take that and we’ll look at what we can do next time to narrow that score line. Comments from supporters post match showed that the training support we’ve had from Sean Carney is massively paying off, we’ve made drastic improvements in a matter of weeks. Thank you Sean for all your support. The results will come and we’ll continue to work hard until they do.”