Despite having confidence heading in to this game it was not enough to beat a strong Rochdale team. Unforced errors in the first few possessions was to unfortunately set the tone for the first quarter, good teams only need a handful of mistakes to capitalize and that's what Rochdale did. An early quarter goal from man up with Perrin feeding Brooks was the only time Wilmslow would find the net in the opening period, Wilmslow had two great chances towards the end of the first quarter but could not convert to trail 5-1.
With Wilmslow's face off man George Widdowson currently on the injury list, the battle at the face off X was always going to be difficult for Aaron Eastwood, who actually put in a solid shift. During the game Sam Burgess stepped up to take a number of face offs winning a couple too. Perhaps Burgess has a new calling? Make no mistake, Rochdale have two of the top face off players in the country let alone the league. Madeley and Matthews have perfected their craft at the X but they are excellent two way middies who are dangerous offensively.
The second quarter saw Wilmslow come out with a little more fire on offense creating a good number of opportunities on the Rochdale goal and might well have out shot them during the quarter but just could not convert those shots to goals. Only Oscar Mellor would scored for Wilmslow during the second period. Being 8-2 down at the half was a tough pill to swallow and although frustration was beginning to build in the bench area, we had to battle on and have the attitude that you are never out of the fight.
A valiant effort went into the 3rd quarter with goals from Pink, Chatterton and Mellor following a Wilmslow time out but Rochdale's midfield proved too hard to close down for the Wilmslow defense. Sometimes lessons are learnt in the most difficult of ways, the end of the period saw Wilmslow gain a flag on a play and go man up for a minute with just 15 seconds on the clock we just needed to hold the ball, see the quarter out and run man up for the opening 45 seconds of the 4th quarter. The Rochdale defense saw opportunity to press, turned the ball over and then a late hit saw Wilmslow end up with a 2 minute penalty. The reality is that you need to learn from your mistakes and knowing the importance of moving our feet on ball and off ball must be learnt.
At 8-2 going in to the third quarter Wilmslow had a lot to do to try and close the gap. The quarter was to go Rochdales way 4 goals to 3 but Wilmslow certainly were not ready to roll over. The forth quarter was tied 4-4 and again Wilmslow proved that they are a real threat offensively but had just made too many errors on the defensive end of the field over the course of the match to a team ready to take those opportunities.
The next game will once again see these teams face each other but in a Junior Flags fixture for a place in the final. Wilmslow will need a cleaner performance on the defensive end and finish their chances sooner to have a chance to topple the favourites.
