Hockey: Rochdale Ladies 2 - 0 Didsbury Northern Ladies 5ths

Photo: Rachel Jackson

Becky Knowles (left) was named player of the match

This Saturday 11 February, Rochdale hosted Didsbury Northern 5ths. Didsbury quickly put the pressure on Rochdale with their opening gambit, but Rochdale held strong and saw them off. Allowing their midfield to push high and put their opponents on the defence as they worked together to use the space. It nearly paid off after Hodcroft and Pickering's one-twos were seen off the back line for a long corner, McDonald passed it wide to Leech who ran it into the D and took a strike that went just wide of the post.

Even when Rochdale lost the ball, they were diving straight back in to reclaim it. Parton was working hard on the left wing as she covered a lot of ground to both attack and defend, not letting any Didsbury player have any peace on her turf before being able to hand it off square or down the line. For the first half Didsbury had slightly more opportunities for a goal, but they were unable to find a way through Rochdale's defence. Generally seen off by Hoyle and Owen blocking out the easiest angles, stopped before they even got close to the D by Leech or saved by Partington. One of Partington's saves at the left side came off her pads and landed in open space on the right side of goal, but before Didsbury were able to run onto it Palmer swiped it out of the D. Even during short corners Didsbury were unable to make any headway.

A defensive short corner as the half time whistle went felt precarious for Rochdale, but they rose to the occasion and blocked it, only for another short corner to be given. This time Leech hurtled out and blocked the striker at the top of the D, the ball bouncing off her stick but not far enough for the short to be over. Both teams dug in but a foot resulted in another short corner. Rochdale were finally able to clear it on that third go and ended the first half at nil-nil.

As the second half got underway it was clear that Rochdale were keeping calm. They didn't try and force the ball through, but waited and passed it back around between them to open up some space. It paid off when they were able to get into Didsbury's D more often. A short corner in their favour ended in a goal line scramble from which Black was finally able to tap over the line to put them ahead.

Rochdale used their substitutes well, keeping the team active and allowing them to track up and down the pitch to back each other up when they needed to defend and push up when they were attacking. Another drive from Pickering was passed off to Knowles, who took a shot, forcing Burrell to drop back down - just after she'd regained her footing - to dodge it.

Unfortunately the ball was seen wide of the goal. Their utilisation of the whole team paid off when Rochdale were awarded another short corner, and this time Burrell hit it to Pickering at the top of the D, who tapped it left to Knowles. Knowles swept it just inside of her near post to secure Rochdale a second goal.

Didsbury didn't let up and were fighting for their own goal till the very last minute, with one attempt to enter the D blocked by Collinson on the left before they made another go at the top which Palmer deflected away. The final whistle blew before Didsbury were able to reorganise for another attempt and Rochdale celebrated a win that was the result of a proper team effort.

The final score was 2-0, with Lily Black (1) and Becky Knowles (1) as Rochdale's goal scorers.

Player of the match was Becky Knowles.

Captain Dionne Collinson said: "What a game! An absolute team effort from cradle to grave and it paid off! Well done to each and every player. If we could bottle todays game and sell it, we’d be very rich!.”

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