Hockey: Didsbury Northern 5ths Ladies 3 - 0 Rochdale Ladies

Photo: Rachel Jackson

Player of the match was Gemma Hodcroft

This week Rochdale were away at the Armitage Sports Centre to play Didsbury Northern 5ths. It was warmer than a usual Saturday in October, but luckily stayed dry.

An early Didsbury break allowed Rochdale's keeper Partington a chance to show off her skills as she kept her cool and tucked her heels together to put a firm stop to Didsbury's strike, before kicking the ball out of her D. Knowles picked it up and swept it up the wing towards Hodcroft. She weaved her way around the midfield to evade the opposition before passing it off to Pickering on the right wing, who in turn fired it into Didsbury's D where Burrell and Richardson were positioned, ready to attempt to convert it into a goal.

Unfortunately, Didsbury's defence were able to intercept and despite their best efforts, Rochdale were unable to reclaim the ball. Didsbury scored the first goal of the game with a lucky strike that slipped down the inside of a post. Later on they almost made it two on a short corner, but it was disallowed because the ball didn't leave the D.

When a Rochdale play down the left wing was intercepted, Parton dug in and hassled to win the ball then tapped it to Hodcroft, who, despite two opposition players marking her, was able to find a pass up to Richardson. She took the ball into the D but was blocked from scoring by Didsbury's defenders. Their clearance gave Pickering a sideline free hit, which a Didsbury foot turned into a second free hit slightly nearer the D. After a quick feint to get the requisite five yards she then hit the ball into the D to find Burrell on the penalty spot, who turned to strike. The keeper saved the effort, and Richardson was in the right place to get the rebound, but wasn't able to keep hold of it as a defender swooped in.

A run of three short corners gave Rochdale a series of excellent chances, and testing different tactics. The first time going for the straight hit from the top of the D, the second they attempted to go down the left side of the D, and for the final they drove the ball into the D heading right, before crossing towards the left. All three efforts saw them close, but unfortunately the Didsbury defence was too strong and they ended the first half without a goal. In the second half Didsbury dug in hard, determined to increase their lead. This gave Rochdale's defence a lot of work to do, but they were just as persistent. Knowles intercepted and deflected at least two Didsbury hits at the top of the D and fired the ball to the opposite wing to one of her players.

Hoyle was manning the centre of the D, channelling out strikers and blocking Didsbury crosses to ease the pressure on Partington. Partington herself was a dynamic presence on the goal line, making some great saves and clearing the ball. During another round the back switch from Didsbury, Yates was able to intercept when the ball reached her left wing, driving the ball down the pitch before handing it off to Hodcroft who worked her way between opposition players to the top of the D, with no way through she passed the ball off to McDonald who was able to take advantage of Collinson pushing up with the play. Collinson handed it off to Pickering in the D, who took a hit only for the ball to go down the wrong side of the post.

A Didsbury strike across the goal towards the far post clipped the back of Palmer's foot, resulting in a penalty flick. As the penalty was taken, Partington leapt towards the right post as the strike landed in the bottom right corner, only just missing getting a pad to it. A late short corner gave Rochdale some hope, yet again passing to the left to try and open up a chance, but yet again being denied. Didsbury had slightly better luck at the other end of the pitch and were able to rush a goal with an overload in Rochdale's D. Rochdale didn't give up though, and quickly regrouped to push high into Didsbury's defensive area, with Hodcroft and Hockaday covering a lot of ground to keep possession of the ball.

Unfortunately Rochdale's grit and determination wasn't enough to find a gap in Didsbury's defence to gain themselves an elusive goal. The final score was 0-3.

Player of the match was Gemma Hodcroft. Captain Dionne Collinson said: "A great effort once again. We are slowly closing down the goal difference each week. Congrats to Claire Hockaday on making her debut for Rochdale.”

Rochdale's team for this week:
Keeper; Sam Partington.
Defence; Dionne Collinson, Claire Hoyle, Becky Knowles & Hannah Palmer.
Midfield; Gemma Hodcroft, Paula McDonald, Roisin Pickering & Arabella Yates.
Forwards; Katie Burrell & Rachael Richardson.
Substitutes: Claire Hockaday & Daisy Parton.