Hockey: Rochdale Men’s 2nds 5 - 0 Bolton Men’s 2nds

James Trainor was named man of the match

Saturday 5 November saw Rochdale return to home action against Bolton. When these two sides met last season, they both won their respective away legs. Rochdale have put in a lot of work since then and after strong criticism from their coach last week, were looking to put in a good team performance today.

​Bolton started brightly in the opening minutes of the first half, quickly turning over possession after Rochdale’s push back and started trying to work their way through Rochdale’s half court press. This was not easy, as the lads in orange kept strong discipline with their shape and frustrated Bolton early on as there was no obvious way through. This led to them doing a few switches just shy of the halfway line, but delivering panicky forced hits that were easily picked off early on.

​Eventually they did find a way through on the Rochdale right, but this only worked against them as man of the match James Trainor pounced on a weak pass and powered through on the counter. A quick one two with Stuart Dearden on the half way line saw James driving behind Bolton’s defensive line towards the baseline. Finding time to set himself, he slap hit a cross (which was accidently raised around knee height) which found its way to the back post for Bjorn Braun’s to volley home his first and give the home side an early lead. There was some controversy with the ball being lifted, but no Bolton defender needed to take evasive action so it was deemed not dangerous and the goal stood.

​Bolton came on strong looking for an equaliser, but had to show discipline to try and find a way through the half court press. They did start managing to get through, but they were always mobbed and isolated on the side-lines when they did, allowing the home sides forwards and midfielders to turn over possession. The next goal came from this as captain Adam Massey turned over possession on the halfway line and drove at Bolton’s exposed and high back line. A swift flowing attack straight off the training ground allowed him to commit the last defender before slipping it to Bjorn, who rounded the keeper and slotted home to double Rochdale’s lead.

​Trying to find a better way through, Bolton started overloading the wing they were attacking to force Rochdale’s full backs into marking two players. Thanks to the inspired leadership of Dave Jackson this problem was solved on the day and Bolton were contained to just going down the wing at best and were unable to penetrate Rochdale’s circle. When Rochdale had to take a 16 the away team did try to do a high press, but a well-executed aerial went straight over them to Dearden, who led a rapid counter which caught Bolton out. Some great inter play between the forward line eliminated the last defender, allowing Massey to commit the keeper before passing to Dearden to slot home his first and Rochdale’s third.

​It was a solid first half performance overall, but a few things were identified for improvement. Namely transferring the ball quicker and sticking to task. Mostly though it was just well done and more of the same please.

​The second half would be harder going however, as the home team began to tire a little but it was largely more of the same. Bolton did manage to get more penetration of Rochdale’s back line in the second half, but still were mostly contained to a few half chances. Their best effort came near the end from a penalty corner, as one of their up-and-coming stars launched a decent drag flick goal ward. Fortunately for Rochdale it was straight down the middle and well saved by Dean Colusardo in the Rochdale goal.

​Massey added another goal to settle second half nerves, from a swift counter and an assist by Stuart. He did also score another one, after a great cross from James after he carried the ball past a few defenders before crossing from the right. It was disallowed however, due to an offence in the build-up. A final goal was added by Dearden to seal the game at 5-0 with Massey completing his hat trick of assists.

​This was Rochdale’s best performance so far this season, although Bolton were not as bad as the score line suggests. They did play some good stuff in parts and have a lot of promising young players. It was the home sides' day though, with a strong performance that demonstrates how much they have improved from last season, turning a one goal defeat into a five-goal win.

Man of the match was James Trainor for a solid all-round performance in defence and attack.

The team's next opponents are Timperley, which is always a tough game.