2023_24 Season – Match Report 11
Date –16th September 2023
Competition – Staffs County Senior League – Premier Division
Venue – Hillsfield, Rocester
Rocester FC v Silverdale AFC
Kick-off 2:00pm
Result - Rocester FC 2-6 Silverdale AFC
A game of two halves and another disappointing loss for the Romans despite being in front twice…
Silverdale arrived at Hillsfield on the back of three straight wins, however, straight from the whistle, it was the Romans who were on the offensive, and within the first two minutes, they had created two goal-scoring opportunities which saw both Scott Bew and Mo Al Amin see their shots go just wide…
Rocester continued to apply pressure for the next eight or nine minutes during which time, they saw yet another shot going just over the bar...
Around the ten-minute mark, Silverdale made their first real foray into Rocester's half as they pushed down the right. The end result was a speculative shot from about 25 yards which sailed well wide at the far post...
SAFC maintained the pressure for the next few minutes before Rocester countered...
Having been played through, Lewis McMurdo took possession in front of SAFC's 18-yard box, however, the 'Dale defence were quick to hamper his progress and so he played the ball back to Owen Parr on his left.
Owen made no mistake with his shot to score his debut goal and make it 'one-nil' to the Romans...
Just 2 minutes later and Rocester broke again, only to see McMurdo shoot straight at the 'keeper...
This break was almost immediately followed up with another two which saw both Mo Al Amin and Lewis McMurdo 'pull' their shots 'wide' of the post...
This saw the start of a period of 'end to end' football which culminated with a break for Rocester which saw Ash Elliott being tripped just outside SAFC's 18-yard box...
Unfortunately, Izaak Walsh saw his free kick just clear the 'bar...
Immediately from the restart, the 'Dale were pushing forward as Macauley Davies 'sprung' the off-side trap (although the supporters standing level with play weren't convinced that he had), and he slotted home to equalise...
Five minutes later and SAFC were awarded a free kick on the halfway line. A long ball was played to the right of the Rocester 18-yard box and the SAFC winger shot straight across the goal mouth to save the Romans' blushes...
Just 3 minutes later and it was Rocester who were pushing forward as a lovely ball was played into the advancing Scott Bew, and the resulting shot sailed into the back of the net to restore Rocester's lead...
Following a 3-minute stoppage for an injured player, play resumed with Rocester doing most of running, however, once again, SAFC regained possession on or around the halfway line and played the ball to Macauley Davies (who had once again 'sprung' the offside trap), and he made no mistake with his shot to equalise...
Half-time Score: Rocester FC 2-2 Silverdale AFC
During the half-time break, the Romans made three changes to the line-up. However, it quickly became apparent that they had somehow 'lost their shape' and although they probably continued to take the 'lion's share' of the play and possession, they couldn't 'make it count where it mattered'...
At the same time, SAFC made the most of each opportunity presented to them as they took a more 'direct' approach, and as a result, you got the feeling that each time they broke forward, they were going to score... Which indeed they did!
With goals for Jack Barlow (55 mins) and Jonathon Hughes (59 mins) to make it 'four-two' to the visitors, the Romans had to 'throw caution to the wind' if they were going to get anything out of this game, and as a result, they left themselves very exposed at the back...
So despite the fact that Rocester were still pushing forward in numbers, it was only a matter of time before they conceded again as Macauley Davies scored both in the 81st and the 85th minute to seal a '6-2' victory for Silverdale...
Having said that, the Romans never appeared to give up and to their credit, they never stopped running or working...
Full-time Score: Rocester FC 2-6 Silverdale AFC