Rochdale 3 - 0 Port Vale

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Ian Henderson scored his 17th goal of the season

Rochdale swept aside ten man Port Vale in a blistering first half scoring three goals without reply.

Vale’s Danny Pugh was shown a straight red card for bringing down Matty Lund when the Northern Ireland International was through on goal and from that moment Dale looked in full control.

Lund fired Rochdale into the lead eleven minutes from half time after a loose ball landed at his feet inside the six yard area.

There was a lengthy stoppage in the aftermath of the goal when visiting defender Kjell Knops was carried from the pitch after twisting his knee meaning he would need hospital treatment.

The injury certainly affected Vale who shipped two more goals before the interval. Donal McDermott scored a beauty from the edge of the area whilst Ian Henderson sent keeper Deniz Mehmet the wrong way from 12 yards after Mendez-Laing was tripped inside the box.

After the disappointment of Saturday, Rochdale manager Keith Hill freshened his side up with two changes, Olly Rathbone and Donal McDermott came in for Jamie Allen and Steven Davies.

In front of a larger than normal crowd for a Tuesday evening game due to the £1 ticket promotion, Rochdale set about playing good football.

Some great link-up play between Lund and Henderson saw the former race in at goal only to be tripped on the edge of the area by Danny Pugh, referee Seb Stockbridge showed Pugh a straight red.

With a man advantage, Dale controlled the first half with Vale having little or no play in their final third of the pitch.

The opening goal came after a scrappy ball into the box found Lund at the back post who, after taking one touch to steady himself, fired into the net.

The goal was a costly one for Vale as full back Kjell Knops twisted a knee in trying to block the initial cross leading to a seven minute delay whilst he received treatment before being carried off.

Any hopes of a Port Vale come back were ended when Donal McDermott produced a moment of magic when he unleashed a superb curling shot that beat Mehmet to double Dale's advantage.

Deep into first half stoppage time, Rochdale made it 3-0 from the penalty spot. Ryan Taylor tripped Mendez-Laing inside the area and although the referee waived away penalty claims, an assistant’s flag changed the official’s mind; Henderson sending Mehmet the wrong way for his 17th of the season.

With the expectant crowd wanting more goals in the second half, Keith Hill’s game plan was to keep what they had and see out the game which resulted in a ‘dead rubber’ second half.

Rochdale saw plenty of the ball but rarely threatened Mehmet as the Vale sat deep to limit any further damage.

Henderson broke through early in the second half but his lobbed shot was deflected out for a corner and in the 89th minute substitute Steven Davies saw a header flash off target - the only real moments of note in a largely forgettable 45 minutes.

On a night when sixth placed Southend lost to a late Bolton Wanderers goal, this result sees Rochdale move to within five points of the play-off places with five games remaining.

Rochdale: Logan, Rafferty, McGahey, McNulty, Andrew, Lund, Camps, Rathbone (Allen 75), Mendez-Laing, McDermott (Noble-Lazarus 81), Henderson (c) (Davies 89).
Subs: (not used) Wilson, Vincenti, Morley, Kitching

Port Vale: Mehmet, Purkiss (c), Smith, Bikey, Knops (Kiko 40), Taylor, Foley (Reeves 81), Pugh, Hooper, Cicilia (De Freitas 45), Eagles.
Subs: (not used) Kelly, Turner, Fasan, Shodipo.

Referee: Mr S Stockbridge
Assistants: Mr G Mellor and Mr A Greenwood
Fourth Official: Mr D McNamara

Attendance: 4,387