Dale Must Have Drank A Lot Of Milk…

A trip to Accrington Stanley.  On a Sunday (who knows why?).  Does it get more traditional than that?  After Accy’s ‘lively’ history, visiting the Crown Ground is a pilgrimage to one of British Football’s most famous sides (and punch lines).   The original team went bust in 1966 and this revival was created two years later.  Since finding themselves at the bottom of the footballing ladder in 1968, they have remarkably battled their way through league after league to find themselves back in the Football League in 2006.  Of course, this is a great story in itself, but the reason for Stanley’s fame is a bit quirkier.  Back in the ‘80s (before I was knocking about, incidentally), there was a milk advert that has become the stuff of legends (here’s the link for the uninitiated: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pieK7b4KLL4).  Ever since then, Accrington Stanley has become something of a cult team and; “Accrington Stanley?  Who are they?”  “Exactly!”, has become a part of football fans’ vocabulary.

 

Anyway, despite this being my first visit, I knew exactly what to expect.  I wasn’t disappointed.  As I walked into the ground, the slogan; “The Club That Wouldn’t Die”, was everywhere and brought about wry smiles aplenty.  As for the ground itself, it wasn’t the most modern.  I’d definitely recommend a quick peek on the internet because it is a great education for young fans- who haven’t seen the 60’s and 70’s.  All the old favourites are here: terracing (make it safe and bring it back!  It’s terrific fun), stands without a roof and a stand that seemed to be little more than a few sheets of corrugated iron!  It is still immensely charming and full of soul.  This is especially true when the ground is filled with Dale fans (we outnumbered the Accrington fans), even though the lack of a roof meant that most chants went into space.  Ah well, at least it was sunny!  One other amusing fact about the ground is the Stanley fan’s flags.  In the main stand, there were more flags than supporters and there was an audible laugh when the ‘Pride of Lancashire’ flag was unfurled.  Ah, the delusions!

 

As for the game, I was supremely confident of Dale’s chances against a physical, but poor team.  It was with no great surprise then, that Stanley took the lead with the first attack.  Rory McArdle headed the ball clear, but only as far as John Miles.  He then controlled the ball and volleyed it into the top corner, leaving Sammy Russell with no chance.  One minute gone, one goal down.  Sigh.  For the next half-an-hour, Dale didn’t improve too much.  Too often hampered by a physical Stanley side and a card-happy referee, Rochdale were barely in the match and ‘under the cosh’ almost constantly.  They just didn’t seem to have an answer to Accy’s bully-boy tactics and barely completed a pass in the opposing half.  The frustrating pattern to the season was continuing until, out of the blue, Rochdale hit back.  In the 38^th minute, Will Buckley- brilliant recently but barely having a kick- finally got a chance to run at his man in a dangerous area.  This brought excellent results as he beat his man and was tripped inside the area.  It was a stonewall penalty and the third (!) that Buckley had won this season, at 18 he is turning out to be a terrific prospect.  All that was left was for Adam Le Fondre to smack it home and Dale were level.  As they saw out the half to go in at 1-1, Dale were definitely fortunate to be still in the game.  We were all hoping that the sucker punch and Dale’s ‘2^nd half team’ tag would lead to three points.

 

It did lead to three points.  Football is ‘a game of two halves’.  Rarely has the statement ever been so apt.  Rochdale came out in the second half as a transformed team.  No more would they be overawed by thuggish tactics or struggle to find their men in attacking areas.  The display in the second half was a tantalising reminder of Dale’s great potential.  Keith Hill’s words at half-time must have been magical because the improvement was unbelievable.  The passing was now crisp and accurate.  The speed of the players, one of Rochdale’s advantages in League Two, was used more effectively.  Even the strikers managed to see the ball.  Yes, the second half performance was fantastic.  Dale really could have had nine or ten.  As it was, two was the magic number.  The first came from Will Buckley- who has now scored in the last three games, which have been his first professional goals.  This was yet another terrific effort as he robbed a Stanley defender, beat a further two and dispatched the ball past Arthur and into the corner of the net.  He really is making it look so easy at the moment.  Dale were camped in Accy’s half from here on in and chance after chance went by.  In the end, it took until the 90^th minute for the 3^rd goal to arrive.  Jordan Rhodes, another teenager, showed his clinical side as he was in the right place at the right time to stab home after a goalmouth scramble (it was typical lower league stuff).  That was pretty much it on the football side of things, a great result that gives Dale their first away win.

 

On the lighter side of life, in my previous post I mentioned a fan that was kicked out against Chesterfield.  Well, it seems he was up to his same tricks at Accy.  I have no idea what he was chucked out for, but at least it raises a good question: will he ever see the final whistle?  Let’s see against Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday.

TK Rescues Dale Against Spireites

Home win!  I have to say, it has been a while since I could say that Rochdale have picked up three points- it feels good.  This probably does a bit of a disservice to the Dale as they have played well (you may remember me saying they’ve been “a bit like Arsenal”, except against Wycombe, of course), but a result was definitely required.  The fact that it was a cracking game also topped it off nicely.  Anyway, time to get on with talking about it.

 

Naturally, a fine footballing occasion requires a fine footballing day, which obviously Rochdale is no stranger to.  Sat in the front of the stand, I even managed to get myself a tan in the blinding Lancashire sun!  I think the Dale supporters were hoping that the improvement in the weather would see an improvement on the pitch, especially after the disastrous performance against Wycombe and the surrender against Rotherham.  Immediately, Dale did show signs of improvement with some slick one-touch passing that was very effective against Chesterfield in advanced areas of the pitch.  At the back there were signs of improvement too; with less mistakes of the kind that typified the Wycombe performance, leading to possession being retained.  All in all, we looked genuinely threatening.  Jordan Rhodes was one player who looked particularly threatening.  You may recall me mentioning the youngster, who scored on his debut at Rotherham, as a potential superstar- according to Football Manager.  He looked every bit the superstar in this game; showing composure and awareness that belied his tender years.  Having said that, he didn’t get a clear opportunity in an even first half that saw both sides created chances that worked both goalkeepers.  Russell made a couple of good saves that were relatively comfortable for him, most notably from Jamie Ward- the former Aston Villa youngster being the most persistent threat from the Spireites.  At the other end, Trevor Carson also had to make saves from Dale with Gary Jones showing his willingness to shoot from midfield on a few occasions.  Despite a flurry of goalmouth action, the game remained goalless at the break.  Once again, I was concerned at the Dale’s inability to take their chances.  At this stage, I thought that a lucky goal would probably be required to break the deadlock and kick Dale into gear.

 

I was right.  The second half began scrappily as neither side seemed to be able to retain the ball and control the game.  This saw chances appear less predictably, until Jamie Ward had the chance of a lifetime.  The ball came in from Chesterfield’s right-wing and picked out Ward’s right-foot that was already prepared to strike a certain goal from point blank range.  He caught the ball sweetly, propelling it towards the goal and a diving Sam Russell- who somehow managed to produce a world-class save to deny Chesterfield and clear the ball.  It was an unbelievable stop and one that Chesterfield would rue.  On 67 minutes, Will Buckley, continuing his impressive form on the right flank, burst down the wing and delivered a cross that drifted away from the Dale strikers and the outstretched hand of Carson before nestling in the net.  It was a goal out of nothing and was just the luck that Dale needed.  So Dale once again found themselves in the lead.  Could they hang-on?  Would the demons of Rotherham surface to throw away two more points?

 

The answer initially seemed to be yes.  Jamie Ward wasted two wonderful chances, the most memorable involved him firing an almost vertical shot from around 12 yards out.  Needless to say, the ball flew over the WMG stand to Ward’s obvious embarassment.  The general feeling did seem to be that the luck was with Rochdale today.  This all changed 5 minutes from time.  Ward was wrongly said to be impeded as he ran through the defence (he even got a shot away).  This lead to a free-kick in a very dangerous area which was struck firmly- though straight at Russell.  It was with horror then that I watched the ball evaded the keeper; slipping through his grasp and into the net.  I felt sorry for Sammy as his earlier save was a masterpiece that didn’t deserve to be tarnished in this way, but my fury at seeing YET another lead slip far outweighed my sympathy.

 

Things got even worse.  In bizarre fashion (you won’t see this in many football grounds), a Rochdale fan was ejected from the ground and arrested.  It all began after the ball went out for a goal kick (after yet another Ward effort).  Russell appealed for the ball back, but the intoxicated fan kicked the ball over his head.  This lead to the rest of the stand’s obvious anger and resulted in chants of “W**k*r” at the thoughtless fan.  This went down about as well as you can imagine, angering the fan who tried to fight his corner (literally) against those who were most vocal.  The stewards reaction was non-existent, leaving a potentially volatile situation until the police arrived to cart him off.  In a way, this just about symbolised the frustrations at Spotland this season- especially as Dale were staring two more dropped points in the face.

 

Luckily, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.  Firstly, Jamie Ward incurred the wrath of the referee (he was clueless, though right in this case) twice in the space of a minute- receiving two yellow cards and his marching orders.  He could have no complaints after blatant time-wasting and dissent, in what must have been one of the ‘thickest’ dismissals of all time.  The dissent booking came after Jordan Rhodes was wiped out by Carson when through on goal.  The referee got both this decision wrong (Rhodes also got a shot off before he was flattened) and the decision to book Carson (the letter of the law would have seen him sent off).  So this left a final chance for Dale in stoppage time.  A free-kick that was 20 yards from goal.  Both Keltie and Kennedy were poised to shoot.  From this position, I thought Kennedy should take it.  I was right.  As he ran towards the ball, no one dared to move, speak or even breathe.  He hit the ball over the wall and time stopped still.  The ball went straight as a die and dipped slowly.  Over the hand of Carson.  Into the top corner of the net.  Jubilation!

Two Again (But I can explain)

I know, I know, I know. I owe two of these again but I just couldn’t. After coming away from Barnet with a hard fought win (2-1 after being 1 down) we then went on to face Wycombe.

A top of the table clash between the two unbeaten teams in League Two. Boy was it good! Some said that the game had 0-0 written allover it and with Wycombe’s record of conceeding just twice away from home so far this season, maybe that wasn’t such a bad bet (9/1 for anyone who got their pennies out). Both sets of fans were confident though that their team could take all three points.

In the end 0-0 was the right call but it was far from a bore draw. Chances at both ends saw Stephen ‘Awsome’ Dawson blast a 30 yard shot just wide while prolific striker Andy Bishop missed narrowly from a tight angle. Wycombe didn’t crawl up and die even with their compact shape. A fine header after an hour had Bury keeper Wayne Brown scrambling but the cheeky stopper got down quickly to fend the ball away. Dawson was as lively as ever while David Buchannon kept the Shakers in the game with a heroic last man challenge early on. At the final whistle the spoils were shared and both teams could be happy with their performance.

Bury go to face Aldershot away next, still unbeaten and still top. For added sweetness we currently have 18 points, exactly double the current total of Rochdale AFC. Life is good.

Away to Rotherham (in Sheffield)

I apologise if this post is somewhat vague or brief.  The Dale Pea is unfortunately unable to make many away games anymore, so unless I go (unlikely) my correspondence is likely to be impaired.  As a result, Rochdale’s game with Rotherham United is going to be a difficult one as I can only go off what I have heard.

 

So where to start? I think I’ll tell you what I do know about Rotherham United.  First of all, they are potless.  Having 17 points deducted for being in administration since March, The Millers have turned into a bailiff’s dream.  Unable to pay the bills at Plainmoor (the ground at which they usually play), they have now moved to the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield- which is more used to hosting gigs than football matches.  So, all in all, it’s looking bleak for a side that, up until the 2004-05 season, had been competing in the Championship.  How the (ahem) mighty have fallen!

 

They were also responsible for one of the best Rochdale games last season as well as my personal favourite moments.  When the two clubs met in March, Rotherham had just had 10 points deducted for falling into administration.  Normally, this would have meant for joy as they were ahead of Dale and in the play-off positions, but their rumoured expulsion (that never came about) from the league threatened Rochdale’s play-off aspirations.  As Rochdale had beaten them already and Chesterfield (Rochdale’s then-rivals) had lost to them twice, expulsion would see Rochdale lose their 3 points, therefore, taking Chesterfield out of immediate reach.  This lead to the afternoon beginning with more than a little pessimism and as the two teams lined-up the Dale fans realised that a win was essential.  Anyway, after Dale took the lead they were pegged back to give the game an evenly balanced outlook at 1-1 with 15 minutes to go.  Cue the arrival of Chris Dagnall!  Daggers was making his first home appearance for six months after suffering yet another serious knee injury and was thrown on to build up some match fitness on his comeback trail and to, maybe, grab a winner.  He then subsequently scored an unbelievable 9 minute hat-trick; including Dale’s eventual goal of the season- bringing the ball down with instant control on the right-hand side of the box, Daggers then moved the ball slightly to the left before curling a sumptuous left-footed effort into the far corner.  It was hands-down the greatest moment I have ever witnessed at a live football match (later being eclipsed by the play-off semi-final 2^nd leg against Darlington with David Perkins’ 30 yard effort).  Dale then comfortably ran down the clock to tie-up a comfortable 4-1 victory and the rest is history.

 

Ok, to me the above was the defining moment in ‘Rochdale versus Rotherham United’ clashes (and an invaluable method of boosting my word count).  But what about Saturday’s clash, you ask?  Your guess is as good as mine, but I’ll try and fill you in based on what I’ve been told.  The scoring was opened just before half-time by Jordan Rhodes, who was making his debut after joining on-loan from Ipswich Town.  I have yet to see him play, but based on Football Manager (a game so good, that it can actually be used to accurately tell you whether a player is a superstar or a donkey) and Ipswich fans’ comments, he’s a bit of a star.  At just 18, he’s going to be something special, apparently.  Dale then went two up after half-time with yet another youngster, Will Buckley once again making an impact.  At the moment, he is showing a great deal of potential and is making the right-wing his own.  So much for Higginbotham!

 

From here, Dale should and would have cruised home with a welcome away win, but Lee Thorpe had other ideas.  The veteran striker was introduced around the 70 minute-mark to hold the ball up and chase every ball, in an attempt to close out the game.  He was dismissed after 30 seconds.  Having not seen it, I can’t really comment; although, words, such as “assault”, have been thrown around so I can assume it wasn’t pretty.  This put Rochdale under pressure as Rotherham could now press them into their own half and force a goal.  The first came after 77 minutes when Rory McArdle headed into his own net.  At this point, (while I watched Soccer Saturday at home, waiting for the result) I was hoping that Dale could hang on and, as 90 minutes loomed, I was sure they would.  But in the 5^th minute of injury time (that isn’t a typo), Reuben Reid, a former loan player at Spotland, scored the goal that cost Rochdale two points.  We were robbed; a feeling that was intensified by the six minutes of injury time that was awarded.  The general feeling was of bewilderment amongst the fans that travelled, who had many questions to ask.  Namely, ‘Where did he get it from?’, ‘Where did he get it from?’ and ‘Would the game still be going at Christmas if Rotherham hadn’t scored?’.  The official line appears to be that an injury to Sam Russell accounted for 3 minutes and substitutions accounted for the other 3.  Three minutes for substitutions?  There would huge amounts of stoppage time in each game if that was the template that referee’s used.  Craziness.  From my viewpoint, it appears that Dale were, indeed, robbed.

So disappointment once again reared it’s ugly head.  Hopefully, Rochdale will be able to hang on to a lead at home to Chesterfield.  Hopefully….

It just got personal

Before I post some musings about Rotherham, can I just reply to something that Gaz said in his most recent post.  I believe it went like this:  “While my friend remembers his day out in London, I’ll keep to the present.”

A perfectly acceptable bit of banter?  On the surface, it would appear to be true.  But, wait!  Dig a little deeper and you will find that Gaz has been a wee bit hypocritical.  You see, Gaz still likes to mention Bury’s FA Cup victories.  For those of you who don’t know, Bury did, in fact, win the fabled competition twice.  Unfortunately, it was so long ago that Bob Hope was busy being born around the time of the 2nd one (1903).  So yeah, you just keep living in the present, Gaz.

I Owe Two

I must apoligise to our regular readers, I’ll buy both of you a pint, but the Bury end has been a little quiet. Its been a LONG few days, I apologise.

Now firstly, the news. Rochdale AFC (Always Failing Competently) are to be awarded the freedom of the town. This is to reward their success. No, wait, you’re not mad, I really did just say that. Rochdale’s success? If anyone can inform me of what this is exactly, please send the answer on a postcard. Actually no, just use a stamp, you should have enough room to lick it without tasting ink!

The first game I need to mention was away at Chester. Perenial strugglers, having conceeded 14 goals in their first three games, they now sit above Rochdale in the table. This was helped by picking up a point against my so far unbeaten Shakers. I am told I was present at the first half of this game, though I’m afraid I may have been distracted by some dust. It really was that dull. Chester actually went into the break leading, we then came out and thoroughly battered them. Andy Bishop finally levelling the scores from the penalty spot. If the game was a boxing match the referee would have stopped it, but as it is you have to score more than your opponents to win and we didn’t. A 1-1 finish didn’t reflect the Shakers second half performance but then that’s life.

We moved on then to face Lincoln at home. My friend’s favourite Ben ‘made McArdle cry’ Futcher was facing his old club, a team with which he reached three playoffs. All four goals in this game came from set pieces, a knock back from Scott allowed Andy Morrell to score a real  poacher’s goal after Kovacs put the visiters ahead with a kamakazi flying header. MY friend’s other love, Efetobore Sodje, headed home Bury’s second and the win was sealed by that man Bishop who scored a penalty given, with a rather nice dramatical performance, by referee Oliver. 

The Shakers seem to have developed a knack of winning games without really ‘beating’ the opposition. This slightly odd scenario can see you leaving the ground wondering how exactly you put three past that team. In all honest though, who cares. The shakers are second (one point off the top) and still unbeaten. While my friend remembers his day out in London, I’ll keep to the present. On we go.

Shadow of Rochdale 0-1 Wycombe Wanderers

Rochdale’s first meeting with one of the play-off sides was at home to Wycombe Wanderers (the other unsuccessful play-off side being Darlington).  This was a bad time to play Wycombe as Rochdale were now two games without a win after a draw and a defeat at the hands of Bury and Bradford respectively.  Wycombe’s three wins from their first four games also made it a less than excellent time to play Peter Taylor’s men.  Ah yes, Peter Taylor!  Once sacked from England Under 21s after winning all but one qualifying game and having had a very poor tenure at Leicester City amongst others, he has now wound up in charge of the ‘Chairboys’ after Paul Lambert’s resignation.  It would be nice for Dale to give his fading career a swift nudge into hopeless, but, truth be told, I would just settle for a decent performance after the side has been recently off-colour.

 

As for the match, both sides had plenty of the play in a very open, initial 30 minutes.  Dale had the best of the chances with; Chris Dagnall seeing his shot heartbreakingly roll past the post after a one-on-one with Shearer in the Wycombe net and Adam Le Fondre somehow aim his header straight at the floor and not the net, from a set-piece.  But just after the half-hour mark, Wycombe made the break through.  Matt Harrold, only just on for his debut after replacing an injured Tommy Doherty, caused mayhem after heading the ball back across goal from a corner that was delivered to the back post.  This landed it on the head of giant Mike Williamson whose header was palmed down by Sam Russell and into the path of Chris Zebrowski, who had no choice but to smash home from about six yards.  Yes, it would seem that Dale have conceded from a set-piece yet again, making it 80% of the goals that Rochdale have conceded this season coming from this source.  What started off as a minor irritation and a problem to work on is swiftly becoming an infuriating flaw in an otherwise great side (there is one other flaw, more on that later).  It needs sorting.  NOW!  The rest of the half was uneventful as Dale recovered from the shock of going behind.  The fans were questioning their performance so far and there is quite a lot of unrest growing from the aforementioned flaw and general performances.  Improvement is definitely required.

 

We certainly didn’t get it in the second half.  Perhaps it is a little unfair to be so critical; after all, Wycombe did defend their lead very resiliently.  On the other hand, Rochdale didn’t make it difficult for the Wycombe defence as the easily repelled the Dale strikers’ efforts.  Even bringing on height in the form of Lee Thorpe, in order to give Mike Williamson a challenge, didn’t work.  Many fans consider this to be a particularly low point of the last 18 months.  They just cannot score (flaw number two).  A common problem in the lower leagues, Rochdale are suffering from the lack of a goalscorer like the one they sold to Brighton in January (Glenn Murray).  The strikers are not doing the business and we can only hope that, until they do, Dale will continue to pick up enough points to remain in contention.  At the moment, Rochdale are playing like Arsenal (don’t laugh).  The passing maybe nice, but the lack of resilience and penetration is leading to inconsistency and costing the Dale dear.  So Dale may not be; French, arrogant, divers, cheaters or scum, but you get the idea.

 

These are worrying times, but we, the fans, must put up with performances like this one at the present time.  Better times are ahead.

Their Cup Final… Rochdale Vs Bury

The first big derby clash of the season is upon us.  Rochdale’s meetings with Bury are the biggest games of the season for both sides (though the play-offs easily eclipse them).  These games are about much more than 3 points.  To the victor, pride and bragging rights are worth an immeasurable amount.  To the loser, humiliation and months of torture lie ahead.  As for a draw?  Think of it as the footballing equivalent of a rollover.  To add to the importance, there is always controversy and arguments that run for the rest of the season and beyond.  For example, the two red cards in last year’s Gigg Lane fixture still cause me and my Shaker friend to ‘debate’.  Gaz was convinced that Nathan Stanton was the final man when he upended Elliot Bennett. I wasn’t.  He was also convinced that Bury thug, Ben Futcher, had been head butted (he was covered in blood) while I know that he was sent off for that every same offence as he cut himself when head butting Rory McArdle.  Gaz still continues to argue about these incidents, whereas I have long since let it go.  A play-off final will do that, right Gaz?

 

Anyway, now focus should be turned towards today’s game.  Rochdale’s second home game of the season was an unusual choice for this match, with the first game usually taking place in November/December and the return being in March/April (where it actually is this season).  The last meeting between the sides at Gigg Lane ended 1-1, with the controversy that was mentioned above also occurring.  This game is also famous among Rochdale fans for the 3,000 Dale supporters who were locked out after they comprehensively outnumbered the home supporters and ran out of their allotted space.  It is also famous for me due to the unbelievable price of pies.  Not only was it over £3.00 but it was awful too (though better than the pie in Bradford Town Centre)!  As for today, Bury had won all of their previous league games this season and had 9 points from a possible 9.  Not a natural statistic to my mind, but true nevertheless.  Rochdale had, of course, fared slightly worse with 5 from 9.  This made Bury the favourites in some people’s eyes, though not in mine.  Even last year’s equivalent game at Spotland didn’t put me down as Bury secured an easy win on that day.  I was sure that the winning streak for the visitors would not continue beyond today.

 

I arrived at the ground around an hour before kick-off to ensure a seat and, as I watched the crowds gather, I was pleased to see that Bury could not repeat the feat of the Rochdale fans as they were outnumbered by the home supporters (and rightly so, there should ALWAYS be more home fans).  Having said that, there was a pretty healthy attendance that created a “Good Atmosphere” as my Shaker friend decided to inform me; he must have had a lot more credit than I did!

 

As for the game, Bury started the stronger and looked more up for the game than the home side.  This was a cause of frustration for many fans as there is nothing worse than seeing a team that is not ‘up’ for a derby.  This frustration grew sharply on 8 minutes when Rochdale conceded from a set-piece ONCE AGAIN.  This time, Sam Russell decided that a bit of humiliation was required and punched the ball into the net.  Once again, it seems that Bury have took an early lead.  They do it in every derby.  Grrr!  The rest of the half was a bit scrappy with Bury having the best of the chances and there were also quite a few run-ins with Sodje and Futcher, Bury’s central defensive partnership.  I have a problem with these two.  They seem to be nothing but thugs with numbers.  Futcher, as I mentioned earlier, has a history in these fixtures and he was up to his old tricks again here.  In the first half, he scythed down Rochdale’s Chris Dagnall and Adam Le Fondre repeatedly.  It was OK though, the ref was letting the game ‘flow’ (this automatically means that assault is A-OK!).  Sodje was just as bad.  He was repeatedly picking fights with every Dale player at the hint of a foul.  Irritating.  He then outdid himself by elbowing Adam Le Fondre in the most cowardly fashion: off-the-ball.  Infuriating.  At the close of the half, many questions remained.  Would Dale improve and level the match?  Would Sodje and Futcher continue their antics?  Would they be punished?

 

These questions were answered all in the same instance.  Rochdale improved significantly in the second half and really took the game to Bury, who seemed to have no answer.  Midway through the half, 18 year-old Will Buckley, who impressed on the right-hand side, charged into the box and was felled by what appeared to be a horde of Bury defenders.  The Dale fans erupted in delight, except me, of course, as I was wary of the fact that we actually had to score it.  As Chris Dagnall walked up, I thought it was strange that he was taking the penalty and not ’specialist’ Le Fondre.  He then struck his penalty at Brown in the Bury goal to give the overriding feeling that this just wouldn’t be our day.  Thankfully, nobody told the Bury defenders as they conceded a second penalty moments later.  Will Buckley once again skinned Bury left-back Buchanan and was sent sprawling by Ben Futcher’s unnaturally long legs.  If there was any doubt about the first penalty, there was none about this; it was a stonewall penalty (albeit Futcher yet again escaped punishment).  This time, the Dale fans had learnt their lesson with significantly less euphoria as Le Fondre picked up the ball.  Like Dagnall, Le Fondre had recently missed in the shoot-out against Oldham, but this time he made no mistake as he blasted the ball into the centre of the net to equalise.  The rest of the game then settled into the pattern of Rochdale pressurising without making any headway, leaving the final score to be 1-1.

With honours shared, the bragging will have to be passed to the meeting at Gigg Lane on March 7th (shame, I was looking forward to ‘ripping’ Gaz).  Until then, worst of luck to Bury.  UP THE DALE!

Bloody Bantams

My first away game of the season was the match in the delightful city of Bradford.  The reason that I can make this away game is that an hour on the train isn’t really a hardship, even when it’s the 12 o’clock train with the majority of Rochdale’s ‘combative’ fans (who got off at Halifax to meet other fans for………well, you get the idea).  So me and my mates found ourselves at the ground at 1 o’clock- two hours before kick-off.  That is fine because we had plenty of time to find a pub and a chippy.  Happy days!  So we waded through the army of rozzers (there was trouble after a postponed game last season) and found a chippy and then a pub.  After resolving to never ever have a pie in Yorkshire again (Pork and sweet pastry? EVIL!) and a swift drink, we arrived at the ground with half-an-hour to go.  Plenty of time?  We missed the first 5 minutes.  It was a bit of a joke, to be honest.  One turnstile for 900 fans showed that Bradford vastly underestimated the Dale support.  Disgrace!

Anyway, moving on to the game, it started well for Rochdale who had a couple of half-chances in the rare Yprkshire sunshine (don’t worry, it rained when we got back to Rochdale).  But the optimism was swiftly dashed after Michael Boulding gave Bradford the lead.  After a Rochdale attack, Bradford broke down the right-hand side and crossed in for Boulding to easily dispatch a diving header.  This shocked and silenced the dominant Dale voices, though optimism still linger, only to be further weakened by Bradford’s second just minutes later.  Rochdale are a short side and struggle with set-pieces when facing taller, more powerful sides.  So after Bradford won a dubious (shocking decision) free-kick in a dangerous area, I was worried.  The free-kick was deep, totally bypassing Russell in the Dale net and landed on the head of Peter Thorne, who made no mistake from six yards.  It was difficult to see how Rochdale could come back from the two-goal deficit despite playing well.  This proved to be the case as Dale battered a Bradford side that was content to play on the break, though to no avail.  Dale hit the bar, the post and the goalkeeper;  everywhere but the onion bag!  This is becoming a concern, Dale must be a lot more ruthless in the coming months, in order to get the precious victories that are required.  As it was, Rochdale had nothing to show for a reasonable performance.  Plenty to think about on the train home then, especially with the big derby against Bury just a week later.  Was I worried after Bury’s start?  Not one bit.  Although Bury had started well and traditionally win the Spotland encounters, there was nothing in their squad to scare me.  Should I be scared?  We’ll find out on Saturday as I go head-to-head with Gaz.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrremlins

Unfortunately for me, gremlins have struck recently.  There was no computer for me for a week or so.  Anyway, now I have returned and have a lot of catching up to do, having missed the Bradford and Bury matches.  So expect two posts to be up almost instantly.  Oh and two fingers to my Shaker friend for whinging about my lack of activity!