Word Ben Edwards | Picture Ayush Bhattacharjee

Rochdale Women 2-1 Altrincham Women

A clash of two sides entering the game with a 100% record in the North West Women's Regional Football League, Division One Central, resulted in the Robins losing out to a strong Rochdale side.

Alty hadn't played a competitive fixture since the 3-2 victory over Bury FC Women Reserves on 30 August and were caught cold straight from the kick-off, which was delayed due to the late arrival of the referee.

Annie Taylor crossed from the right and a poor clearance found Eleanor Seals, who produced an excellent finish, leaving Carmen Stephens with no chance and giving the hosts the lead after just 22 seconds.

Any early rustiness for Alty was quickly shrugged off, as just two minutes later Katie Locke brought the ball forward from the right and fed a nice ball through to Georgia McKnight. She struck towards the near post and whilst Leah Jackson got a big hand to it, she could only palm it into the top right corner.

McKnight looked to add a second after a good pass by Ashley Jones, but her left-footed effort was easily collected by Jackson.

Rochdale were initially rocked back by the equaliser but gained momentum halfway into the first half, seeing efforts from Alicia Barnett and Erin Whyte sail off target.

Conditions proved difficult for the Robins, who were almost caught out by a Rochdale cross, which hit the crossbar and to the relief of Stephens went over.

Despite the Dale enjoying the majority of possession, Alty had the better of the chances at the tail-end of the first half, helped by having a numerical advantage as Sophie Coates was sent to the sin-bin for dissent.

Tia Unwin's shot from 20 yards towards the bottom right corner was parried away by Jackson, before Amy Tickner's speculative effort from 40 yards flew comfortably over.

Brogan Walsh did well to keep the ball in play and pick out Nat Lowe, whose first time half-volley went wide.

The Robins did well to enter half time level, given they were playing against the wind, and would've been hoping to build momentum with the conditions in their favour during the second half, though that isn't how it materialised.

A lack of composure prevented Rochdale from regaining the lead on multiple occasions, with Whyte and Holly Davenport firing over one-on-one with Stephens not long after the interval.

Following a fairly quiet first half, Stephens showed her quality in the second half and was called upon many times. Having initially mis-judged the ball, she recovered well to make a big save at close range, with Brianna Morrison heading off the goalline from the resulting corner.

Just past the hour mark, the Liverpool loanee was off her goalline quickly to take the ball off the feet of Coates.

Minutes later, Seals almost had her second of the game in spectacular fashion, striking the right post with a powerful effort from 20 yards.

Alty's best spell of an otherwise difficult second half came around the 70-minute mark, when Unwin's volley was headed off the line, with McKnight getting onto the rebound. Her deflected effort looked destined for the top right corner but went behind for a corner.

Lowe then had the ball in the back of the net and thought she had put Altrincham ahead, producing a brilliant header into the bottom left corner from Carmen Culbert's free kick, though she was judged to be offside.

The final 10 minutes were dominated by Rochdale and it always looked like they would be the side to find the winner. Tickner produced a sensational clearance, with a sliced kick that would have been easy to put into her own net, though she got enough on it that it went over the bar.

The warning sign came as Mason beat Millie Kullu on the right-hand side and dragged her shot wide of the left post. A minute later, Rochdale had the lead, with Whyte's effort going under Stephens and into the back of the net.

Rochdale: Jackson; Seals, Duckworth, Malpus (c), Whyte, Barnett, Coates, Mackie, Davenport, Taylor, Strudwick

Substitutes: Simpson, King, Smith, Makin, Mason

Altrincham: Stephens; Locke, Morrison, McKnight, Culbert, Lowe (c), Kullu, A. Jones, Tickner, Unwin, Underwood

Substitutes: M. Whitehead, Tilston, Walsh

HT: 1-1

Goals: Seals 1', Whyte 83' | McKnight 3'

Elite u18

A much more positive result for Spencer O'Connor's side, who made it three consecutive victories with a 6-0 win over Northwich Victoria u18 Vixens. Florence Munt and Francesca Hamilton netted twice, with Phoebe Gibson and Daisy Henderson also on the scoresheet.

Next Up

We hit the road again next week, heading for Crilly Park to take on Atherton Laburnum Rovers Ladies for a 2pm kick-off.