Hockey: Bolton Ladies 2 - 2 Rochdale Ladies

Photo: Rachel Jackson

Gemma Hodcroft was Rochdale's only goal scorer

Rochdale were away to Bolton 2nds on Saturday 12 November, and optimistic that the unusual sunshine was a sign they could break out of their losing streak. 

Bolton showed their intentions early, by going for short corners in Rochdale's D, but Rochdale weren't that easily deterred and saw them off with cool heads. Hoyle and Partington were on particularly fine form as they blocked out Bolton's efforts. An excellent hustle from Yates won Rochdale a free hit high on the left wing. Knowles sent it to Hodcroft, who weaved her way across the pitch and over towards the right before pivoting into the D, and smacking the ball once she was within the D and earnt herself the first goal of the match.

A short corner was awarded to Rochdale when a Bolton player repeatedly stick tackled Pickering as she tried to dribble the ball into Bolton's D. To change things up slightly, this time Burrell injected, Hodcroft received the ball at the top of the D and passed left to Knowles who was free to take a shot. Unfortunately it hit just the wrong side of post and off the back line.

Bolton were also awarded some short corners, but Rochdale ably saw these off with some excellent defensive work, with Partington manning her line and organising her defence to allow Hoyle to guard one post, allowing Collinson, Moon and Leech to fan out to close down any effort from Bolton.

At half time Rochdale were a goal up. However, Bolton rallied very effectively at the start of the second half and quickly secured themselves a couple of goals.

Rochdale weren't going to let that setback deter them though. Richardson continued to push to chase down the ball in the top left side of the pitch, delaying and reclaiming the ball to keep Rochdale in the game. Backed up by Hodcroft and Leech they were able to get close to another opportunity to score a number of times, but Bolton's defence were too well coordinated for them to slip past.

Bolton made a run to try and increase their lead by breaking after a Rochdale push, creating a one-on-one with Partington as Rochdale's defence hurtled back to her aid. Partington wasn't fazed though, and stepped off her line and easily kicked the ball away from her goal towards Collinson who claimed it and fired it back up the pitch.

Rochdale refused to give up, with every player somehow managing to find an extra gear to keep fighting right up until the final whistle. Collinson, Hockaday, Hodcroft and Leech covered an exceptional amount of pitch between them. This paid off when they were able to get into Bolton's defence with two minutes to go and hold it there, and won a short corner.

The full-time whistle was blown as they were preparing for it, allowing Rochdale to push their full team up to attack because once the ball was more than five yards out of the D, the game was over. They had a chance to recover from a loss and they were going to make the most of it. McDonald injected, finding Hodcroft at the top of the D, who took the strike. It rebounded off the keeper, but Black was able to claim the ball to keep it in play, trying to find a route through the defence but came up short when Bolton were able to fire the ball away from their net. Hodcroft stopped it again at the top of the D and took a couple of steps before pushing the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal, securing a draw for Rochdale.

The final score was 2-2, with Gemma Hodcroft as Rochdale's goal scorer. The player of the match was Claire Hoyle.

Captain Dionne Collinson said: “This is a momentous achievement after a run of losses. It just goes to show how determined and hard working our team is. Today is where everything came together - this is our turning point.”

Rochdale's team:
Keeper; Sam Partington.
Defence; Dionne Collinson, Claire Hoyle, Kieran Leech & Hannah Palmer.
Midfield; Gemma Hodcroft, Paula McDonald, Roisin Pickering & Arabella Yates.
Forwards; Becky Knowles & Rachael Richardson.
Substitutes: Lily Black, Katie Burrell, Claire Hockaday & Becki Moon