Impressive Dale performance makes it two in two.
So, after having last weekend off to have another team bonding trip – we were back to business this morning. Fresh from a weekend in Blackpool last week, the boys were ready for a trip from Stoke for a North West Cup game. This is a competition we are taking seriously this year – so the lads have been up for this game all week.
Unfortunately, Stoke pulled out on Thursday afternoon. This left us in serious trouble with regards to the pitch, as it was such late notice we couldn’t cancel the pitch booking. After a frantic couple of hours, Rhys had pulled one out of the bag and managed to get Halifax in to play us in the league. A massive thank you to Halifax for coming over on such short notice.
So we had a game again. Rhys was away working, so the team was left to be picked by Liam, a person many would suggest Rhys has been stupid to let take charge of games when he is away – I would disagree!
So I picked the team that started pretty much every WorldNet game (this way, if we lost I could say it was either down to player’s conditions, or the fact I wasn’t playing in midfield!) We lined up with…
Remi Chatburn in net, back three of Johnny Hall, Joe Walsh and Jack Leeming©. A middle three of Phil Darlington, Toby Wright and James Hardman. The wingers were Luke Walsh on the right and Ryan ‘Central Midfielder’ Lockett on the left. This left the Davies brothers, Kyle and Mose, to lead the line. After saying we were lucky in the opening game to have three subs, I was overwhelmed with options from the bench today, with the 5 (FIVE) subs I had to my disposal. These were PH, NL, AL, IM and DS.
The game started like an attack vs defence game. The first 10 minutes were dominated by Dale. The middle three were untouchable, and a move of around 15 to 20 passes found Toby at the edge of the box. His left footed shot didn’t really test the keeper that much. But the start was certainly promising.
Considering the start Dale had, I was expecting to be writing about the first goal coming from a great team move. Instead, it came from an interception by Rochdale’s number #7.5 at the back. When Joe gets his head down, it stays down. After going past 2 defenders, he placed the ball into the bottom left corner from about 20 yards out. I hate giving him praise, but it wasn’t a bad finish to be fair. 1-0 Dale.
The second came exactly how I expected the first goal to come. A great team move end with Jack playing the ball through to Kyle, who beat the keeper to the ball. A confident Kyle would have tried to lob the keeper. But this Kyle has been going through a bit of a draught, and after receiving a lot of abuse over the past couple of weeks for his terrible past attempts at lobbing keepers, he decided to poke the ball past the keeper and into the bottom corner. Jack was claiming that as he passed the ball he looked the other way. NOBODY ELSE SAW THIS. And as a mutual friend said to me over the summer “bless him, he doesn’t let the truth ruin a good story” – I think we all know he was looking where he was passing the ball. Anyway, 2-0 Dale.
So the last report had a mention of Mose’s terrible finishing. Today, this is his mention to another terrible effort. This time it was another lovely move by Dale (I swear I will never get tired of writing that – it was a joy to watch!). The ball fell to Ryan on the left, he squared the ball to Mose – he was about 10 yards out, under no pressure, with all of the net to aim at – and he hit it straight at the keeper! Any other day and he would have been fined for Miss of the Day. Luckily for him, his brother was around to save him £1.
Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle… What were you thinking? The ball was played through to Kyle and after a few touches he had settled himself. He was running through at a very slight angle, with all of the far post to aim at. Instead he tried to undermine the keeper by going to the front post. Bearing in mind he was pretty much in the 6 yard box by this stage, he side-footed the ball to the left of the post and wide, to a mixed response from the team. Half of the lads burst out into laughter. The other half stood in disbelief.
Now as stand in manager I didn’t really have much to do in the first half. So the first half had many non-football related talk. With two of the three Indies of the team on the side-line (Rory is still to be seen this season – maybe he left his football boots at Glastonbury) – our discussions lead to “your first gig”. Myself and Dean were very reluctant to say the first acts (acts, not bands!) we went to see. In our defence, we were both very young. But other entries were Iain with S Club 7, Paul with Nickelback, and Loz with the Manics. But the winner of “My first gig” was Dee, with a very casual “I can’t remember, either Oasis or R.E.M” – Special mention to Hudson who came out with “Liam has a serial-killer like taste in music”. Thanks Mate. Maybe I’ll throw away my Arctic Monkeys CD’s and replace them with Slipknot ones.
Half time came, with the score at 2-0. The team talk was very much “keep going as you are lads”. We changed the front two, as the Davies brothers had to leave early. So the front two were now Nick and Paul.
The second half didn’t start as smoothly as we would have liked. Halifax started very quickly, and a great strike from the Halifax forward from about 30 yards out left Remi with no chance. The ball flew into the top corner! 2-1 Dale.
The difference between the lads this year, and the lads last year really showed at this point. Last year a bit of shakiness would have come into play, and the Halifax lads would have found a way back into the game. This year there is a real confidence in their own ability, and normal play resumed in no time.
The Dale lads were quick to get the ball down and start playing again. Lovely little passes between the midfield lead to a through ball from Jimmy to Toby, who calmly finished through the keeper’s legs. 3-1 Dale.
The fourth didn’t take long to come. This time it came directly from a Halifax goal kick. Jimmy won the ball in the air, leaving the ball bouncing in front of him. He wasted no time in taking his chance, and being about 40 yards out, there was a shout of “Jimmy, Nooo!!!” from someone. The ball flew over the keepers head and into the net. 4-1 Dale.
By this point the fitness of the dale team (and the quality use of subs by the Dale manager) was really showing. Halifax had only managed to get 11 men on such short notice, and it was beginning to show. Dale were find the gaps in the Halifax defence a lot easier. And it really was only a matter of time before we got the fifth.
The fifth goal did come, and it came from a nice bit of play from Nick down the left. He squared the ball, and as a defensive minded player myself, I could only feel sorry for the Halifax skipper. It was a cross he had to do something with. If he had left it, it would have been a nice easy tap in for Hudders. So he decided to get his foot in the way. Now I personally would have kicked it back out towards Nick, but this lad fancied the top corner of his own net. Credit where credit is due, it was a cracking finish!
Now Dale were really in cruise control. But it didn’t stop them kicking on and trying to get as many goals as they could. The next goal came from a nice bit of football through the middle that resulted in Dean moving in from the left hand side. Even I was sure Dean was going to go for glory as he got about 25 yards out from goal. Instead of being greedy he played a nice reverse pass to Nick, who took the honours to make it six. 6-1 Dale.
I’m getting bored now…
The seventh was a great individual goal (miles better than Joe’s). Ryan, who had now been moved into centre mid, picked up the ball at the edge of the Halifax box from a pass by Dean. He managed to glide through two of the Halifax defenders, and as the keeper rushed out to put pressure on the young man (he can be called a man now he’s turned 18) he faked a shot and pretty much walked past the keeper, and tapped the ball into the open net. 7-1 Dale.
The eighth goal was ridiculous. Basically Loz got the ball out on the left, and because his left foot is pretty much non-existent, he tried using his right to find Hudson running towards the back post (most people would have been aiming for the back edge of the six yard box knowing Hudson’s pace). Instead his cross went in the front top corner. 8-1 Dale.
Finally, we have come to the end of the goals!!
The last goal came from a pass down the channel from Dean for Paul to run onto. As the keeper came out to close the angles down, unselfishly, Hudson squared the ball to Loz. Surprisingly, Loz managed to keep his hamstring intact, as he had to make a short sprint to latch onto the ball to pass into the open net to get his second of the day – this one he actually meant!
The game finished 9-1. As the Halifax lads have said since the game that they were given a footballing lesson, I can only agree. We just need to kick on from the first two results and keep going.
A final note must go to Dean & Liam’s first concerts – Busted and Boyzone. No matter how many gigs we go to, we can never change that damning fact.
Also – I won’t be at the game next week, so don’t expect the next report to be any good – if you get one at all!