Seconds go top after City win
ROCHDALE Men’s 2s played City of Manchester’s Men’s 3s on Saturday away at the Armitage Sports Centre and with the recent run of form the visitors travelled with confidence at an all-time high.
The game started off positively with Rochdale gaining early possession and throwing everything forward and with a bit of luck and good fortune the umpires both missed an early foot in the D which fell nicely for Luke Rosebury who slotted the ball away with ease, which caused a minor uproar with the opposition.
However, Rochdale carried on and kept their heads better in the first half and with a nice little reverse flick from captain Dean Close to Aaron Hunter they were able to secure a two-goal lead from a tidy bit of play.
Rochdale, who were not going to rest on their laurels, especially after the hard fought game the week before, continued to push for more goals and a great ball from midfield to Bradley Robinson allowed him to keep his calm and play an inch perfect pass across goal to Rosebury who once again slotted home with a flicked finish to hand the visitors a three-goal lead going into half time.
The second half wasn’t going to be as kind to Rochdale as they were put under a lot of pressure through the middle of the pitch and the defensive line of Alex Paolozzi, who returned to the team for the first time this season, Dave Jackson and Dave Marlow, along with Brian Robinson in goal, absorbed a lot of pressure for the remainder of the game.
With not long left, Rochdale managed to secure a short corner and after a quick ball out from Close to Imran Ansari they were able to secure a fourth goal with a spectacular lifted ball which bounced in front of the keeper and through his legs.
After the match had finished and all the results were in, there was a welcome morale boost with St Helens being beaten by Northern, resulting in Rochdale taking the top spot in the league table.
Coach Aasim Choudhary said: “The team didn’t play like the team that beat Northern last week and as a result this game felt much harder.
“It was good to be able to grind out a result but the whole team know that they will need to perform better to maintain the top position in the league.”