Rochdale 2 - 0 Coventry City

Date published: 17 April 2017

Rochdale's hopes of making the League One play-offs are still alive as two Ian Henderson goals gave Dale victory over Coventry City at the Crown Oil Arena.

With Millwall and Southend both losing, Dale closed the gap to a play off place to just three points.

Manager Keith Hill named an unchanged starting eleven for the game.

Henderson's first goal came midway through a first half in which Dale dominated possession. Jamie Allen and Joe Rafferty combined on the edge of the Dale area to free Nathaniel Mendez-Laing up the right wing. He outpaced Chris Stokes and supplied a pinpoint cross for Henderson to head beyond Lee Burge in the Coventry goal.

Dale should have been two up but Callum Camps sent his shot just wide of the post after Henderson sent a superb ball in from the left.

Coventry’s only threat came from set-pieces but on every occasion, they failed to beat the wall. In fact, Logan in the Rochdale goal was a spectator for most of the first half, with Covenrty not having one attempt on target.

Rochdale continued to control the game and were very dangerous on the counter-attack, but spurned a number of chances to double their advantage.

Half time: Rochdale 1 - 0 Coventry City

Early in the second half Henderson scored his, and Rochdale's, second. Mendez-Laing with a neat pass down the middle for Henderson and he wrong-footed Burge with a clever first-time finish from the edge of the Coventry box.

Mendez-Laing almost got his name on the score sheet when he rode a challenge to race in on goal but his shot went just the wrong side of the post.

A very poor Coventry finally had an attempt on goal in the 66th minute, to huge cheers from the travelling Coventry fans, but Jordan Wills effort went well over the bar.

Into the final quarter and Rochdale had a strong shout for a penalty when Allen's shot appeared to be blocked by a Coventry defender's hand, but the referee waved away the appeals.

The last goal mouth action came when Cannon headed just over the bar from a Mendez-Laing cross to the back post.

There was a lengthy stoppage as the game entered its final stages when Ben Stevenson had to stretchered off wearing a neck brace after landing awkwardly on his head.

Rochdale saw the game out to take the three points and close the gap on the top six to just three points.

Rochdale: Logan, Rafferty, McGahey, McNulty, Bunney, Allen, Keane, Camps, Mendez-Laing, Andrew, Henderson.
Substitutes: Vincenti, Lund, Wilson, Rathbone, Cannon, Morley, Kitching.

Coventry City: Burge, Willis, Turnbull, Rawson, Stokes, Stevenson, Bigirimana, Reilly, G Thomas, Reid, Thomas.
Substitutes: Lameiras, Gadzhev, Folivi, Tudgay, Foley, Charles-Cook, Kelly-Evans. 

Referee: Nigel Miller

Attendance: 3,202

Keith Hill's post-match reaction to Rochdale's win against Coventry City
©Rochdale AFC