Hockey: Bolton Men's 2nds 3 - 4 Rochdale Men's 2nds

Dean Close was named man of the match for his excellent goal keeping

Saturday 25 February saw Rochdale men’s second team away at Bolton against their second eleven. Rochdale were missing a couple of key players, but did manage to field a full squad. It was also a late push back which was further delayed, so the match didn’t start till about 4.15pm.

​Rochdale were a little over confident to start with, having beaten Bolton 5-0 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. It was not going to be so easy this time, as right from the off Bolton made life difficult for the away team. They did a good job of marking tight and stopping Rochdale from finding passes. Bolton were also looking quite threatening early on and were finding a way through the Rochdale lines.

Rochdale responded well and started getting more possession for a spell, that was deeper in Bolton’s half. A fantastic piece of dribbling from Bjorn Brauns allowed him to slot a fierce strike into the bottom corner to give Rochdale an early lead.

Bolton however did not give up. One of their attacks resulted in a penalty corner. The ball was played to the top of the circle and struck towards the bottom corner. It was an awkward one to deal with, as it came in bouncing and unfortunately went over the defenders stick and struck the backboard to give the home side their first goal.

​The score would not stay level long though, as Bolton hit Rochdale on the break. Dragging the centre back out wide, the Bolton forward beat him for pace, then rounded the keeper in the one on one and slotted it home to give Bolton the lead. Determined to get back in the game, Rochdale got the equaliser before half time from a penalty corner. The ball came to the top of the circle and was slipped right to Brauns, who put the ball back across the penalty spot. Improvising Graham Broadley deflected it from behind him into the bottom corner for Rochdale’s second and Broadley’s second of the season.

​Halftime came with the score at 2-2. Coach Imran Ansari had a lot to say to try and motivate his side, as this was proving a great deal tougher than last time. However, it was not a good start to the second half for Rochdale, who were under intense pressure from an eager and capable Bolton side. Fortunately, some good defending and brilliant goalkeeping from man of the match Dean Close kept Bolton out somehow, even saving several penalty corners.

​Bolton would regret their missed chances as Rochdale managed to score two goals against the run of play to put them in the lead for the first time. The first was a brilliant passing move that was finished off by the athletic Ste Hirst, with an excellent well taken first time finish. The second was a great strike from Barry Gumbley, that soon thundered into the backboard after he made room for the shot.

​Rochdale showed they still have some naivety in game management as the last 15 minutes came in. With the score 4-2 in their favour, they just kept going at it in a gung-ho fashion for a fifth goal, rather than just keeping possession and seeing the game out. This nearly cost them, as a bit of confusion in organising the back line allowed a cross to find its way to an unmarked forward at the back post for a tap in. Fortunately, it would just be a consolation goal for Bolton, but it was a nervy final five minutes for Rochdale.

The final score was a 3-4 win for Rochdale. It was a tough game though, and Bolton could well have won on another day.

Captain Adam Massey said: “The lads did enough in the end and showed good character to get the win, when it wasn’t going well for us in large periods of the game. Next week is Timperley 6’s at home, which will be another tough test for us.”

Dean Close was named man of the match for some brilliant goal keeping.