Many thanks to Rochdale Supporters Team for this report following the Merseyside Supporters Tournament –
Every year, Tranmere host the ‘Merseyside Supporters Tournament’ for supporters teams such as ours. This year, Rochdale went one step better than last year and unluckily lost in the final.
The tournament consists of two groups of four teams. We faced Bury ‘A’, Manchester United and Manchester City, while the other group included Tranmere, Chester, Runcorn and Motherwell. The top two in each group go through to the semi finals. Matches are 30 minutes long so that the tournament can be played out in one day.
Our first group game finished 2-2 against Man City. We should have won though as we were on the wrong side of a couple of bad decisions, being denied a stonewall penalty and their second goal was a mile offside. We played well though and took that into our second game against Man United. They are a good team but we battled well and earned another draw, this time 0-0. Other results meant we had to win our final group game against Bury to go through. We played excellently in this match and won 2-0 – through to the semi final!
We faced Runcorn in the semi, and played well but struggled to get the breakthrough as fatigue began to kick in on a boiling hot day. It was a high-tempered game and things got a bit fiesty at times, but that was just because both teams wanted to win. Eventually we scored the only goal of the game and then defended superbly to keep our lead. All arguments were settled with a handshake and we moved on to the final.
We faced our hosts Tranmere in the final, which turned out to be a five-goal thriller, unfortunately ending with a 3-2 defeat. We gave it everything we had though and can hold our heads high. Our manager Craig sportingly presented Tranmere with their winners medals, and Bury supporters with their ‘Best of the Worst Teams’ award.
Our squad for the day was: Ryan Higginbotham, Iain Murray, Kenny Hindle, Jack Leeming, Darren Cockcroft, Rhys Wolstenholme, Craig Milnes, Joe Ralphs, John Barton, Luke Walsh, James Hardman, Arnold Gray, Jack Forshaw and Phil Darlington.
It was another excellent, enjoyable day out at the annual Merseyside Supporters Tournament. We are always looking out for new players to come and join us, so if you fancy getting involved in days like this then get in touch. We’re on Facebook (Rochdale Supporters Team) and Twitter @RochdaleS_FC. We play on Saturday mornings and welcome anyone who is able to turn up do their best to represent Rochdale.