Grimsby find holes in woeful Dale defence

Grimsby Town 4 - 1 Rochdale

Rochdale were the makers of their own downfall at Grimsby Town’s Blundell Park home after a second half collapse that would have looked more at home on the England test-match batting scorecard after the recent Pakistan test series rather than in the 4-1 score-line.

For forty-five minutes the visitors had little to fear as they enjoyed periods of possession and scored a superbly worked goal to put them a goal to the good going into the break. Indeed, with an hour gone Rochdale had seemingly entered the comfort zone as they lay siege to the Grimsby goal after the re-start. However they failed to find a second, Grimsby finally enjoyed some extended time on the ball, the visiting defence hit the panic button and the rest, as they say, was history.

Despite their well documented goal scoring exploits, Rochdale currently find themselves having to score three goals a game just to secure a point having conceded nine goals in their last three league outings; no matter how impressive a strike force a team has that is clearly a tall order, one which Grimsby exploited to the full on a cold Tuesday night on the east coast.

The warning signs of Grimsby’s attack were there from an early stage but Rochdale were able to deal fairly comfortably with their first half forays forward. With ten minutes played Parkinson danced past Goodall but fired his cross from the by-line straight at Gilks. Rochdale countered instantly as they created their first chance; Grant Holt heading wide after good work from the reinstated Goodhind on the right hand side.

Openings were proving hard to come by as Rochdale coped well with Grimsby pressure, reducing the home side to long range efforts which either sailed into the arms of the Rochdale fans behind the goal or into those of a grateful Matthew Gilks. Rochdale had opportunities of their own after winning a succession of corners but Mildenhall was seldom troubled as the aerial presence of Whittle and man-of-the-match Rob Jones were more than up to the task of clearing the set-plays.

On twenty-seven minutes, however, Rochdale got the better of the home defence and they did it in some style. With Rochdale’s goals seemingly coming from a solitary source of late there are no prizes for guessing that it was the in-form strikers that both crafted and scored the opener. Holt’s skill and power was more than the defence could deal with and he put a superb cross over from the left after beating his man for Lambert to coolly volley home at the far post.

Pressure then mounted on the Rochdale goal as the home side sought a platform from which to build in the second half. As has often been the case for Dale’s opposition during this campaign, set-pieces looked to be Grimsby’s best chance of an equaliser, especially with the massive presence of Rob Jones coming up from the back for a series of corners late in the opening period. The centre half got on the end of two of them, fortunately for Rochdale the first was straight at Gilks but the second had the Dale keeper beaten only for Clarke to clear off the line.

Rochdale maintained their lead for the rest of the half as they again reduced the home-side to long-range drives; Tom Newey being the next candidate to fire straight at Gilks from twenty yards just before the whistle blew to end the opening forty-five minutes.

Rochdale were the fastest out of the blocks when the match re-started as they searched for a second goal that might kill the tie and put Dale above the Mariners in the league. The home side had their backs firmly against the wall in some of opening exchanges but Mildenhall was seldom troubled as Rochdale failed to find the cutting edge that had put them a goal to the good. Rochdale’s best move of the half finally saw the home keeper beaten as Holt slipped the ball to Clarke who showed good foot work to create an opening. The midfielder’s shot was deflected and it wrong footed Mildenhall, only to sail an agonising inch over the crossbar.

This marked an unlikely end to Rochdale’s hope of getting anything to the fixture as they appeared to be comfortable in maintaining their lead and possibly extending it. However, what happened in the next ten minutes was a catastrophe for the visitors and it was solely responsible for Dale’s defeat. On sixty-five minutes the defence was called into action for the first time in the half and for what must have been the only time in the half, it did its job correctly, albeit with some luck as Gallimore cleared Gary Cohen’s attempt off the line.

Grimsby levelled with their next attack as Reddy ran all too easily through the backline and his low cross was tapped home by Town striker Gary Jones with the goal gaping. The defence barely had time to take stock before they again failed to deal with the next wave of Grimsby pressure, a Goodall mistake led to a corner from the right and Gary Cohen headed past Gilks from close range without being challenged.

At times such as this Dale’s attack has rescued them on numerous occasions this season but they were not allowed into the action as Grimsby took a sledgehammer to a Dale defence that had already fallen apart. Rob Jones poking the ball in from inside six-yards as yet again a Grimsby set-piece resulted in panic at the back. So ended the nightmare ten minutes and Rochdale finished the stronger of the two sides but the damage had already been done. Substitute Paul Tait provided some moments of skill at the death and Dale were unfortunate not to grab a late lifeline as Gary Jones’ header crashed off the under-side of the crossbar.

With the whistle to mark the end of Dale’s woes nearby, Grimsby scored a final goal to make the score line somewhat flattering but it was not the Mariners fault that Dale had gifted them four goals that they were merely grateful to accept. The final action of the half saw Reddy skip past McArdle, round the keeper and slot home from a tight angle to score the final goal.

Dale’s defensive frailties were again exploited and this time it cost them as they slip to sixth in the table behind Chester and Carlisle on goal difference. Indeed, the goal difference column is unlikely to make for pleasant reading any time soon unless the Dale defence can block the major leaks in its system; Gareth Griffiths is sure to return on Saturday after spending two games as an un-used substitute. Dale’s task does not get any easier as they face an unbeaten Wycombe side away in their next encounter, it looks set be an exciting game between two good sides as long as Dale don’t gift their opposition the path to victory; meanwhile Grimsby will be grateful for their early Christmas present.