Dale End Dreadful Week with Defeat at Wycombe

Wycombe Wanderers 3 - 0 Rochdale

After Rochdale’s defensive collapse at Grimsby in mid-week they were looking to bounce straight back with a better display at league leaders Wycombe. However, their performance got exactly what it deserved; nothing, as the home side’s unbeaten record was never called into question after another nightmare second half turn out by a Rochdale outfit that is clearly struggling at the moment.

The legacy of the loss could indeed be somewhat worse than that of the Grimsby game as Dale must now battle through their troubles with two men absent from their squad after Warren Goodhind and the, frankly stupid, Grant Holt were sent off as the defeat turned into a nightmare for Dale boss Steve Parkin. The league’s top scorer will now miss three consecutive matches for his two footed assault on a Wycombe defender and Steve Parkin was livid with his star player as his side must now continue their run of tough fixtures without him.

The first forty-five minutes of the afternoon, however, were not too disastrous and Dale could have been more fortunate than to find themselves a goal down at the interval; although an impressive Wycombe side had some good chances to increase their lead Rochdale had chances of their own in an exciting opening period.

Gareth Griffiths, reinstated in the hope of adding some stability at the back, had a chance to do damage at the other end when Rochdale won a corner within four minutes. Rickie Lambert fired in a perfect cross and Griffiths rose to head powerfully at goal and most thought he had opened the scoring before Talia in the Wycombe goal saved brilliantly to tip the ball over the bar.

Wycombe were clearly a dangerous outfit as their league position serves to denote and on nine minutes they opened the scoring with considerable ease as the Dale rearguard sat back and admired their opponent’s creativity. The ball was laid in to Mooney who turned comfortably to escape the attentions of two sleepy defenders and fired past Gilks to instigate the first realisation that this could be a long, hard day for the visitors.

However, Dale were not to be totally outplayed just yet and they continued in an optimistic frame of mind with some neat passing football that created some decent chances for an equaliser. Gary Jones should have brought the scores level almost immediately after Cartwright’s superb pin-point cross from the right side found the Dale captain’s head but Jones did everything wrong to loop his header over from close range but the signs were there that Dale could match the league leaders and Jones remained the driving force behind their efforts. A series of neat flicks brought Rochdale’s next chance as Alan Goodall volleyed optimistically from 30 yards out but his effort was sweetly struck and it had Talia scrambling across his goal before missing the upright.

However, Rochdale were mostly reduced to counter attacks throughout the half as Wycombe dictated the play through the inspirational Torres in the centre of the park who was far too good for Neil Brisco, who had an off day in the Rochdale midfield. However Torres failed to convert an excellent opening to double the home side’s lead after Mooney again got the better of the defenders to set Torres up for a glaring miss with the goal gaping. Indeed, throughout the game Wycombe appeared to have left their shooting boots at home and Rochdale were glad that was the case otherwise the score line may have bordered on the downright embarrassing; Betsy was next up for a comical attempt as he put the ball out for a throw-in from inside the area.

The final chance of the half came the way of the visitors and again Jones failed to find the net when he should have done better. Good build-up play down the right led to the opening as Jones timed a run from midfield to latch onto Holt’s inch perfect ball. With only the keeper to beat Jones fired across goal only for Talia to again deny Rochdale by forcing the ball out for a corner; Jones should have avoided the keeper from such close range but he was the only Rochdale player to stand out for a good performance on a torrid afternoon.

Wycombe began the second half intent on making the game safe and Rochdale seemed intent on making sure that was the case. After Matthew Gilks had gifted the home side an extension to their lead, taking an age over a back-pass and then blasting the ball straight off Griffin, giving Mooney the task of heading into the empty goal from a yard after the ball bounced back off the crossbar from the initial deflection, Dale had two men sent-off just to make sure that they would have no chance of getting back into the fixture.

Goodhind received his marching orders after Rochdale gave the ball away in opposition territory leading to a Wycombe counter-attack which Goodhind stopped short in its tracks by pulling Torres back for a clear yellow card, which made a red when it was added to that received for a clumsy first half lunge. Barely ten minutes later and ten men became nine as Grant Holt failed completely to engage brain before action as he jumped two-footed at a grounded Wycombe defender following a challenge just inside the home-side’s half. The referee then had to lead the disgraced Holt across the field and many Dale fans made their feelings known towards one of their favourite players, booing Holt as he walked down the tunnel.

With the game now over as a contest the match turned into the depressing format of target practice on the Rochdale goal as numerous simple chances were spurned by a Wycombe side that was simply toying with its prey, although Dale fans did take some joy at watching what was categorically the worst miss of the season; Charlie Griffin blasting over an open goal from 5 yards out although he atoned for his error in the dying moments by making it three from close range.

In terms of other results Rochdale almost got away with this defeat scot-free as all the other teams in the promotion chase failed to capitalise; a home win against Leyton Orient next weekend will put the Rochdale cat back firmly amongst the League Two pigeons. However, if performances continue in this vein it might not be long before Dale fans are looking at the results of the teams at the other end of the table, the memory of the remarkable comeback against Shrewsbury just two weeks ago already seems distant.