Dale Dumped Out Of Cup

Rochdale Match Report by Jan Harwood

Rochdale 0 - 5 Bradford City

Bradford City were the visitors to Spotland on Tuesday night as Dale looked to continue their good league form and progress to round two of the Carling Cup. However, Rochdale were second best in every department and were comprehensively beaten by the superior Yorkshire outfit. Add yet another booking for striker Grant Holt and a sending off for captain Gary Jones to the 5-0 score line and it was a night manager Steve Parkin will want to forget.

Rochdale, not surprisingly, fielded an unchanged side from Saturday, but their performance could not have been further from the one which saw them hammer Leyton Orient 4-1. The ex-Premiership side, meanwhile, boasted an array of high-pedigree players, with the excellent Dean Windass and ex-Everton man, Danny Cadamarteri, both starting up-front. On paper Bradford had the better side and that soon began to tell on the pitch.

It was Rochdale, however, who created the first opening. A Grant Holt flick was well controlled by Lambert in the box but the in-form striker appeared to delay his shot and his attempt was eventually blocked by Bower, resulting in a corner to the home side.

Bradford soon began to stamp their authority on proceedings and it was man-of-the-match Windass who put them ahead on 7 minutes. A low Richard Edgehill cross from the right-hand side was not dealt with by the Dale defence and the Bradford man was free to volley past keeper Gilks.

Similar to Saturday’s game the officials seemed to be going against Dale when they had two penalty appeals turned down as they looked to get back into the game. With the ball bouncing around in the box following some shaky Bradford defending, two Bantams players appeared to handle, only for the referee to deny the appeals.

Lee Cartwright had chance to make amends for some poor recent displays on twenty minutes as he surged towards the Bradford goal. He unleashed a twenty yard effort, only to miss-time his strike and see the ball easily saved by Russell Howarth in the Bradford goal. The sides began to exchange chances in the knowledge that the next goal could be all important; Mark Bower failed to make contact with the ball at the back post for Bradford whilst Holt fired his shot at the keeper at the opposite end.

Matt Gilks did well to save a direct free-kick with the half drawing to a close but from the resulting corner Bradford found themselves two goals to the good. Defenders failed to clear the cross on two occasions and Danny Cadamarteri was able to head an easy goal from close range.

Dale managed two more chances before half-time; Holt firing wide and Goodall heading over. Bradford left the field by far the happier of the two sides although Rochdale had managed to graft out half-chances throughout the half. The home fans hoped for an improvement in performance in the second, something which Dale have provided on more than one occasion so far this season. This certainly was not to be the case as Bradford added three more goals to their tally.

Chances were hard to come by in the opening exchanges and with both sides battling for possession; Steve Parkin converted to 4-3-3. Blair Sturrock replaced the in-effective Jaszscun to try and salvage something from the game.

It was Alan Goodall, rather than the introduction of the extra striker, that brought the first piece of excitement of the half. The impressive left-back, one of few Dale players who could be proud of his performance, set off on a typical run, beating three men before being well tackled by substitute Stewart. With Goodall’s goal on Saturday and his evident ability to beat defenders, there have been calls from the terraces to move the youngster into the left-midfield position.

With 67 minutes gone Dean Windass sealed the win for the Yorkshire side with a superb near-post diving header, following a low cross from strike partner Cadamarteri. It was clear that the Dale defence had nothing to match the pace of Cadamarteri or the strength and aerial ability of Windass.

Rochdale almost earned themselves a consolation on seventy minutes thanks to Sturrock’s ingenuity. Having worked his way into the box, the substitute fired a ball across the six-yard area only for it to avoid the diving Cartwright at the back post. Sturrock has looked useful in all of his substitute appearances thus far and promotion to the starting eleven may not be too far away, not least because Grant Holt picked up yet another booking in this game and is now only one away from a suspension.

The next piece of action was the most disastrous for the home-side; Gary Jones let down his team-mates, fans and manager when he was sent-off mid-way through the second half after he kicked out at a grounded Bobby Petta. Jones had taken the ball from Goodall in the centre and Petta seemed to get the ball with a strong challenge. Jones saw red in more than one sense, with what was clearly a frustrated act by a player who was clearly struggling against a strong Bradford midfield. It was one of few decisions that referee, Mr Boyeson, got right all game. Although Petta could well have been given his marching orders for retaliation, his reaction was not as bad as Jones’ initial stamp. Jones will now miss the next three matches of Rochdale’s league campaign.

With Dale down to ten men and their players tiring it became a case of how many more goals the rampant Bradford side could muster. Windass scored the next and secured himself the match ball in the process, something which both Dale and Bradford fans applauded when he was withdrawn from the action moments later. His hat-trick goal came in typical fashion, a well placed header back across goal from the edge of the box was one straight from the textbooks, although he was aided by lacklustre Rochdale marking.

Bradford completed the rout in the eightieth minute. With players seemingly queuing up to score, it was left to Mark Bridge-Wilkinson to place the ball past Gilks’ left hand with a tidy finish.

The bubble which was inflated on Saturday was well and truly burst by a professional Bradford display and they progress to the second round with considerable ease. Dale will hope to heal their wounds on Saturday as they continue the search for their first home win of the season against Macclesfield. If that is to occur, a Dr Jekyll display will have to return rather than the Mr Hyde performance shown against Bradford. Inconsistency was Rochdale’s downfall last season and it has been the same in the early stages of this campaign.