Last-gasp strike leaves Ladies flat

The half time break and change of personnel seemed to lift Rochdale and within minutes they were playing the attacking hockey that they are capable of.

Jinking runs by Collinson and Pickering saw the ball played through to Banks who stretched her legs and sprinted down the wing and into the area.

She then very unselfishly passed the ball to the brilliantly positioned Richardson who slotted it home.

This did not deter Didsbury and they continued to play some really good hockey but Rochdale were now gaining more and more confidence.

They piled on the pressure and soon enough they found themselves level with a run into the D by Pickering and a strike which rather fortuitously hit the defenders foot and looped up into the goal, 2-2.

Rochdale attacked and attacked in the final 10 minutes but just couldn’t get the ball past Didsbury’s goalkeeper who was nominated by Rochdale as being their player of the day.

One minute left on the clock and somehow Didsbury mustered one more attack.

Pinging the ball around at the edge of the D they eventually hit it into the area and in what seemed like slow motion, Didsbury’s left wing player pushed the ball towards the goal and it snuck into the corner.

This was the final touch of the game. Rochdale were so deflated as they did not deserve this result.

Captain Knowles said: “Myself and the team are gutted about this result.

“I thought the fight back we put in during the second half was brilliant absolutely brilliant and we deserved a win today. We proved we are capable of playing some great attacking hockey.”