Bank Holiday Blues for Dale at Darlington

Football

Darlington 2 - 1 Rochdale

Rochdale travelled to Darlington on Bank Holiday Monday in the hope of picking up three more points on their travels and possibly putting themselves at the top of the pile in League Two. However, the attacking play of the Macclesfield game was not reproduced in the North-East and Dale went down to a 2-1 score line, despite facing 10 men for the final half-hour.

Rochdale went into the game with an unchanged side apart from an enforced swap of Tommy Jaszczun, who had performed well in the second half against Macclesfield, for the injured Lee Cartwright. It was hoped that with Steve Parkin maintaining the 4-3-3 formation, the side could create plenty of chances and score goals against a Darlington defence that had conceded four at Chester in their previous fixture. However, it was also feared that the home side would be capable of worrying the Dale back-line as their attack had responded to Chester’s goals with four of their own. An exciting game was expected but those thoughts did not manifest themselves on the pitch with chances being at a premium.

The game was well under way before even a half chance was created; Grant Holt scuffing wide of the post after fending off strong Darlington challenges. Rochdale’s remaining first half efforts seldom troubled Darlington keeper, Bossu. Rickie Lambert had shots from two free-kicks, both from considerable distance, the first of which sailed over the bar and the latter striking a well-positioned wall. Tommy Jaszczun had a well-struck volley from the edge of the box stopped by the keeper.

The game was often bypassing the midfield, making for a poor quality standard of football. Even when the ball was picked up in the centre of the park, some poor passing added to the lack of entertainment; the ball either finding touch or an opposition player. It was through similar circumstances that Rochdale created their next opportunity and Blair Sturrock ought to have done better when he found himself through on goal; a poor first touch meant that the chance was wasted.

Darlington gained the lead on thirty six minutes through a goal that was in keeping with the quality of the game. Ryan Valentine made his way all too easily to the Rochdale goal, forcing Matthew Gilks to leave his goal and make a challenge on the on-coming attacker. Gilks tackled with his feet close to the edge of the box and the ball ricocheted fortuitously to Simon Johnson and he was left with the simple task of passing the ball in to the empty net.

Scott Warner put an effort wide of the mark before the half-time whistle blew and Rochdale found themselves a goal behind against a marginally better side. Fans were left to review the highlights on Darlington’s newly erected big screen. Dale fans hoped that they would make for better viewing in the second half as they were left to watch spurned half chances and a scrappy opening goal from the first period.

Rochdale did have more possession in the second half and were clearly looking to create opportunities to get back into the contest. However, the final ball was seldom good enough to create a clear opening, with passes again going astray. Indeed it was a stray pass which led to an opening for Valentine, who ran towards goal only for Ernie Cooksey to tackle superbly and deny the Darlington man a clear-cut opportunity.

Rochdale continued to press but again there was no final penetration, on this occasion Blair Sturrock was robbed of possession on the edge of the box. Without creating many chances Dale were having the better of the second half and they earned an equaliser on the hour when Rickie Lambert was held back in the box. The Rochdale forward seemed to be through on goal when Matt Clarke grabbed hold of the striker, preventing him from getting a shot in. The well-placed referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. That was not the end of the drama, Clarke was sent off as he was Darlington’s last defender. With Gary Jones still suspended, Grant Holt took over penalty taking duties and he struck an excellent spot-kick to Bossu’s left, leaving the keeper with no chance.

Rochdale went looking for the win, sensing that there would be holes in the home side’s defence with Clarke’s removal. The first man to try and take advantage was Goodall as he went on a superb run from inside his own half and he looked to be through on goal but a weak shot was blocked on the edge of the area. Grant Holt was furious that the Rochdale left back had not passed to him as he found himself unmarked but Goodall’s superb run was worthy of a shot on goal. Goodall gained a corner for his efforts and Holt should have done better than to head straight at the keeper from Lambert’s set-play.

A further mistake from Rochdale led to Darlington’s next opening. Clarke was dispossessed on the halfway line and the tackler, Simon Johnson, found Akpo Sodje in the area and only an excellent Gilks stop prevented the ten-man side from going ahead.

Rochdale continued to take the game to the home side but Bossu was still untroubled due to a lack of an end product; Rochdale’s attack lacked the skill to add to their work-rate. On this occasion Holt fired wide after beating the Darlington defence to the ball.

Moments later and the home side went ahead for the second time after a superb Carlos Logan strike from the edge of the box. Two Rochdale defenders appeared to have the situation under control as they looked to block a potential shot, but Logan’s twisting and turning created the ex-Man City player some space and that was all he needed to be able to fire the ball past Gilks and into the corner of the Rochdale goal. It was all that Darlington deserved as they limited Rochdale at one end and looked dangerous on the counter-attack.

With time running out Dale continued to struggle in front of goal and did not create any clear-cut chances before the final whistle was blown. The efforts and work-rate of Holt, who had an attempt cleared by the excellent Valentine in injury time, and the ever more promising Goodall were not matched by the other players and with that being the case there could only ever be one outcome.

It was a poor result and a disappointing performance for Rochdale and Darlington leapfrog them into second place in the table. Neither side took the game to their opponents and Dale don’t yet seem capable of performing as well as they did in the second half against Macclesfield on a regular basis.

Rochdale are far from being the finished article but with the side currently in fourth place they have had a good start to the season and they have a chance to improve on that when bottom side Torquay visit Spotland next weekend.