Dale Force Palmer Resignation after Home Win

Rochdale 2 - 0 Mansfield Town

Mansfield Town boss Carlton Palmer resigned from his post immediately after his sides’ 2-0 loss at Spotland. The game was far from exciting but Rochdale deserved the win which sees them move to third place in the table. More pleasing for manager Steve Parkin will be the fact that his side kept a clean sheet, only their second of the season, after the Dale boss made changes to the side that lost at Boston, conceding three goals in the process.

A better defensive display came about thanks to the changes made by Parkin as he reinstated the Gareth Griffiths/Tony Gallimore partnership in the centre of defence that was so successful last season, Jon Boardman being the player to suffer after some of his mistakes have cost the team goals of late. Blair Sturrock and Rickie Lambert were also recalled to the side as Parkin reverted to the 4-3-3 formation that has seen Dale win their last three home games; Ernie Cooksey being the midfielder to miss out after he picked up an injury in the Boston fixture.

The game started brightly for the home side as they looked for the early goal against a Stags outfit that appeared low on confidence. Rickie Lambert had Dale’s first attempt on target; Baptiste heading off the line from the former Stockport man’s header. Rochdale’s successful strike partnership of Holt and Lambert were again troubling defenders as they looked to add to their combined tally of 12 goals so far this campaign. Veteran Mansfield keeper Kevin Pressman had to be at his best to keep the scores level, parrying a Holt shot after the striker turned past defenders in the box.

Lambert again went close with 15 minutes gone after he fired a trademark long range effort just wide after beating two bemused Mansfield defenders with some excellent footwork. Rochdale were pushing men forward at every opportunity and a goal for the home side did not seem far away, again the Stags had Pressman to thank when he tipped Holt’s sublime curled attempt over the bar.

On twenty-five minutes the inevitable happened as Dale took the lead thanks to Blair Sturrock’s first goal for the club. After a high Holt cross was poorly dealt with by Mansfield defenders Gary Jones gained possession on the edge of the area following a lacklustre clearance. The midfielder remained calm and pushed the ball through to Sturrock who hit an early shot past Pressman from an angle and into the net.

The game turned scrappy following the opening goal with Rochdale, despite having the lion’s share of possession, failed to create chances to add to their lead, whilst Mansfield could not trouble Gilks in the Rochdale goal from the few chances that they created. With his side clearly struggling, the under-fire Palmer introduced two emergency substitutes on 35 minutes, much to the shock of Mansfield fans who began to make their feelings known towards their unpopular manager.

The subs did stir up the Mansfield outfit with the home side struggling for ideas, but their efforts lacked the skill to create openings and Gilks remained untroubled when the half came to an end. Both managers had food for thought during the interval with Mansfield having difficulty getting into the game and Rochdale’s attacking play petering out as the half went on.

It was Palmer’s team-talk that seemed to have the most affect as Dale continued their downward spiral since the goal and with some cooler finishing the Stags could have gained an equaliser. Again Gilks was seldom troubled but it would have been no surprise if Mansfield had scored during the fifteen minutes prior to the break. The Stags’ midfield began to get the upper hand and it was only thanks to some excellent defending from Gareth Griffiths and man of the match, Tony Gallimore that chances were kept at a premium.

All hope of a Mansfield comeback were ended just after the hour when John Hjelde was sent off for elbowing Alan Goodall as the two went up for a header just past the half way line. Whether or not the elbow was intentional only Hjelde will know but the incident looked nasty as Goodall had to receive treatment and a new shirt, with his number 12 shirt covered in blood. The referee was quick to react and immediately reached for his back pocket to retrieve the red card.

Mansfield added further to their demise as Rochdale scored a late second with dire marking from a quick free-kick leading to the goal. Grant Holt asked for the ball to be played quickly and Tommy Jaszczun provided an inch perfect ball from the left hand side, which Holt calmly headed past Pressman and into the bottom left corner of the goal to seal the win for the home side.

A consolation goal seemed to be on the cards with Dale’s threat now seemingly exhausted and it remains a mystery as to how Richie Barker managed to head over an open goal from 6 yards out to pull one back for the visitors. It had clearly been a nightmare day for Mansfield and their lack of confidence, skill and organisation was summed up with this glaring miss.

Rochdale continue to pick up points despite not playing their best football and this win lifts them to third in the table. The true test will come when the come up against the league’s better sides and Steve Parkin will then get a more accurate representation of  whether or not his side is capable of honours this campaign. If truth be told Rochdale have come up against some poor outfits so far this season but all the team can do is beat what is put up in front of them and all-in-all that is something that they have achieved. Rochdale travel to Barnet next weekend and they should provide stronger opposition than Mansfield were capable of in this encounter.