Hockey Results 29/11
Match Reports 29th November 2014
Rochdale Men’s 1s v Blackburn Northern Men’s 1s
First met second in this weekend’s clash as Blackburn looked to take advantage of Rochdale’s slip up against mid-table Golborne last week. The gap stood at three points at the start of the afternoon and Blackburn wanted to make sure it was six before the end.
It was Rochdale who started the brighter out the two sides, pressing high up the field and causing unease in the Blackburn ranks. It took Blackburn a good ten minutes to settle down and find their shape. But eventually when they did, they made sure to punish Rochdale and Wieczorek fired home with a fierce drag flick. 1-0.
Blackburn were now dominating with slick passing and movement between the midfield & defence. The continuous switching in passing left Rochdale chasing shadows at one point. Their dominance wasn’t going to be wasted as Gaz Makin slotted home coolly to double Blackburn’s lead.
Rochdale’s heads dropped slightly and they were unable to keep up with Blackburn’s pacey passing. Some good work down the right hand side from Louis McCabe set up Wieczorek, who reverse stick hit it into the top corner to make it three. Wieczorek’s 2nd of the afternoon and arguably Blackburn’s goal of the season so far.
A bloody injury to Blackburn defender Rob Blackburn meant a defensive reshuffle towards the end of the half. This saw Rochdale get more of the ball, but their failure to make any clear cut chances was starting to frustrate the Greater Manchester side.
The second half started as the first half did with Rochdale pressing high up the field. They had introduced a second striker, giving the Blackburn defence something to think about. It wasn’t long before they started creating more chances for themselves and they finally found a break through after some ‘half asleep’ defending from Blackburn left Rochdale with an easy tap in.
Blackburn held the increased pressure and started to expose the space left in behind the Rochdale defence. Stuart Grant should’ve increased his goal tally, but failed to chip over the keeper from close range.
Winger Louis McCabe made sure he didn’t repeat Grants mishap and some clever trickery saw him intelligently chip the stranded Rochdale keeper. An excellent team goal in the end, making it 4-1.
Rochdale pressed on again and they found another way through what was a stern Blackburn defence on the day to make it 4-2. The second striker was causing problems for the defence and a fine run from the Rochdale midfield was only stopped by defender a serious collision with Michael Grant’s head. The Rochdale midfielder charged straight into Grant, resulting in a badly broken nose and a crimson red bloody pool left to show on the sandy astroturf.
With arguably their best player off the pitch, Blackburn took advantage and Wieczorek wrapped up the days scoring with a great short corner. Blackburn head into their final game before the Christmas break with a six point gap between themselves and Rochdale. They face bottom of the league Kendal for the third time this season.
Result: Rochdale Men’s 1s 2 – 5 Blackburn Northern Men’s 1s
Man of the Match: Dawid Wieczorek
Goal scorers: Dawid Wieczorek (3) Louis McCabe (1) Gaz Makin (1)
Blackburn Northern Men’s 2s v Lytham St Annes Men’s 4s
Blackburn’s second string faced a stiff home test against a solid Lytham side who had only conceded more than one goal on only one occasion so far this season. The second placed Lytham have always caused problems for Blackburn in matches of recent and Blackburn were looking to overturn a run of three defeats on the bounce. And it was up to step-in captain James Ruane to save the day as regular Captain Pete Livesey had fallen ill the day before!
The game was evenly matched throughout and it was unclear who was going to make the better of their chances. It was finely balanced and you could see why Lytham were second in the league as they cut out Blackburn at any opportunity. However, despite their stern resistance, some clever work from Blackburn saw midfielder Andrew Taylor open the days scoring with a smart finish. 1-0 at the break.
The second half began as evenly as the first with both teams creating opportunities at either end. Lytham finally made their break through after stepping up the pressure on the Blackburn defence. A powerful strike beat a stubborn goalkeeper in Brian Williams to level the scores.
Blackburn managed to get the all-important goal of the afternoon when Andy Taylor grabbed his second of the day. Another great passing move within the Blackburn midfield saw Taylor finish coolly.
They head into their final game before Christmas against a stubborn Southport side, who they beat 1-0 on the opening day of the season.
Result: Blackburn Northern Men’s 2s 2 – 1 Lytham St Annes Men’s 4s
Man of the Match: Andrew Taylor
Goal scorer: Andrew Taylor (2)
Clitheroe & Blackburn Ladies 1’s v Liverpool Sefton Women’s 2s
Result: Clitheroe & Blackburn Northern Ladies 1’s 1 – 1 Liverpool Sefton women’s 1s.
Goal Scorer: Anna Hollingworth
Clitheroe & Blackburn Ladies 2’s v Pendle Forest Ladies 2’s
Result: Clitheroe & Blackburn Northern Ladies 2’s 1 – 3 Pendle Forest 2s
Clitheroe & Blackburn Ladies 3’s v Longridge Ladies 2’s
Result: Clitheroe & Blackburn Northern Ladies 3’s 2 – 5 Longridge 2s
Clitheroe & Blackburn Northern Ladies 4’s v Leyland & Chorley Ladies 2s
A late afternoon push back meant that captain Gaye Preston once more had a strong set of players to choose from, boosting the chances of a good result against a tough Leyland outfit.
A squad of 16 meant that they had plenty of fresh legs in what was a high octane end to end game. The constant running back and forth meant that Clitheroe made full use of a big squad.
This constant freshness paid dividends when substitute Emma Litton fired the home side into a deserved lead within seconds of coming on. Clitheroe really gained a foothold in the game and chances were coming thick & fast.
Litton, again, managed to find the back of the net again with a neat finish, doubling the Clitheroe lead and shocking the visitors. Finding themselves 2-0 down seemingly woke up Leyland and they rallied to grab an important goal before the half time whistle.
The second half saw Leyland take advantage of the momentum they had built up in the first half and their efforts were rewarded when what can only be described as a rocket hit the bottom corner of the Clitheroe goal to level the scores.
The remaining 25 minutes of the game saw great chances scuppered at both ends. Veteran Fran Griffiths injected her magic and wisdom into the game but even this was unable to decide what was a great game between the two sides, and it ended in a draw.
Result: Clitheroe & Blackburn Ladies 4s 2 – 2 Leyland & Chorley Ladies 2s
Player of match: Alisha Lingard
Goal scorer: Emma Litton (2)
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