Pressure Grows on Parkin After Another Loss

Mansfield Town 1 - 0 Rochdale

Rochdale continued their collapse down the league table after defeat against fellow League Two strugglers Mansfield Town. Rochdale Manager Steve Parkin thought his side were unlucky to be defeated at Field Mill after the only goal of the game came via a miscued clearance following a corner that fell kindly for Danny Reet to finish. However, Rochdale were unlikely to get anything from a game in which they did not register a single shot on target and dejected fans left the ground questioning how much longer Parkin’s tenure at Spotland would last.

Steve Parkin made plenty of changes to his side that lost miserably against Stockport but they made little impact as the result and performance were just as bad as last week’s defeat. Similar to Stockport, Mansfield were not much better than their opponents, which made for a poor encounter, but again they created the better chances and won the game with more ease than the result suggests.

Rochdale had the better of the first half in terms of possession but they had little idea what to do with it as the side failed to play to their strikers strengths. Rochdale displayed some good passing football, dictated by new signing John Doolan, but the lack of end-product once they reached the final third became increasingly clear as the half wore on. Mansfield toiled against their opponents and their fans became restless as they failed to keep hold of the ball, if Rochdale could score they would surely have ended their winless run against a side so poor but in truth a goal was never going to come.

Rochdale’s neat play created only a few half chances with two excellent Alan Goodall crosses causing the most trouble for the Mansfield defence but Pressman was never called into action in the home side’s goal. Goodall’s first square-ball found Lambert at the far post and his return cross was volleyed acrobatically by Jones but the shot went well wide. The left back’s second ball in shortly after found Sturrock at the near post but his attempt went just wide with Pressman beaten. That was the closest Rochdale came as their lack of ideas began to show, although Goodall went close from long range and Lambert should have done better when a Gary Brown cross evaded the Mansfield defenders.

With the game so poor a nil-nil draw already looked to be on the cards but Mansfield opened the scoring with their first spell of pressure as half time approached. A corner from the left was crossed poorly by Rundell; the ball went straight to Lambert but the Dale striker’s horribly sliced clearance found Reet with plenty of time to fire home from close range.

The second half saw a lacklustre display from the visitors that lacked any form of attacking endeavour or a willingness to get back into the game. Mansfield had by far the better chances, not surprising since Rochdale created hardly any, and they could have embarrassed Dale if their finishing had not been so inept. Goal scorer, Reet was proving constantly troublesome for the Rochdale defence; he fired wide having turned Gareth Griffiths and then missed a simple chance when put through on goal.

Rochdale created only one clear opportunity in the entire second half, again Sturrock firing just wide following a low cross; Rochdale will not end their winless run soon if one clear scoring opportunity in forty-five minutes is all they have to show for their efforts although Sturrock could have been awarded a penalty when a tug on his shirt prevented him from getting a shot away.

Rochdale were chasing the game but it was the home side who created the chances for the remainder of the afternoon. They would have doubled their lead had McArdle not cleared a Coke header off the line whilst Alan Russell also should have put the game beyond the visitors; although in truth one goal was always going to be enough. Stephen Dawson had the best chance to score Mansfield’s second, with the Rochdale defence out of the equation he somehow missed the target when through on goal.

The final whistle brought jeers from the visiting crowd after yet another defeat. Rochdale desperately need a win to stop their slide down the league gathering any more momentum but in truth it is hard to see where the next goal is going to come from after Kevin Pressman’s only job during this game was to take the occasional goal-kick. Luck was a factor in Rochdale’s defeat, on another day they could easily have gained a point, but if their attack continues in this vein a goalless draw is the most that they can hope for. Just over a month ago it was games against the top sides that were six-pointers, now matches against the bottom teams are taking on increased importance and if results continue in this manner Steve Parkin might not be given chance to turn things around.