Points Shared on Poor Spotland Pitch

Rochdale 1 - 1 Boston United

Rochdale backed up their victory at Torquay in the week with a hard-earned home point against Boston United. Both sides struggled to play any flowing football on a difficult surface at Spotland which looks set to go from bad to worse with Rochdale Hornets kicking off their season shortly. The visitors clearly came for a point and got it as Rochdale failed to finish off second half chances in a match that was seldom pleasing on the eye.

An eventful first half brought two goals and some fine saves by both goalkeepers; Matthew Gilks in the Rochdale goal showing a return to the form he showed last season with a couple of top class stops. However, there was nothing the goalkeeper could do about Boston’s opening goal as Rochdale’s defence were nowhere to be seen from an eighth minute set piece. Three Boston players were involved in the goal without a Rochdale player ever getting near the ball as Lee Canoville nodded the free-kick on to Greaves at the back post and his ball across goal left James Keene with a simple tap-in.

Rochdale seemed determined not to let the goal affect them and looked to get back into the game with a couple of attacks but the Pilgrims seemed equally determined not to let the home side get on top and Dale were kept at bay with some tough defending, epitomised by Gary Silk’s poorly timed lunge on Alan Goodall. The home fans chanted for a sending off but a booking seemed a fair decision on the referee’s part, whilst Jon Doolan also saw yellow after reacting to the foul on his team-mate.

The incident seemed to shake the game up a bit and stirred the home fans but both sides continued to cancel each other out until Rochdale won successive corners on the half-hour mark. Rickie Lambert’s second ball in was pin-pointed for Gareth Griffiths and the centre-half made no mistake with his powerful header to score the equaliser.

It was left to Matthew Gilks to keep the scores level at the break as Boston sought to restore their lead with former Premiership striker Julian Joachim leading their attack. Joachim broke free after another long-ball caused problems for the home defenders and he struck a well-timed shot from a tight angle which Gilks did well to push over the bar. James Keene tried his luck with a long range effort with the half drawing to a close and only another top draw save from Gilks prevented the lively midfielder from scoring his second of the afternoon.

The second half saw little goalmouth action as the game was reduced to a midfield battle with little creativity as the pitch began to get the better of the players. The visitors failed to create any chances and seemed content with defending for a point whilst Rochdale could seldom break down the rearguard and snatch a victory. Rickie Lambert was at the heart of all of the home side’s attacks as he continued the form that helped Dale to victory on Tuesday night. Another corner from the Dale front-man caused problems but Jon Boardman failed to trouble Logan with his header.

The one important fault in Lambert’s display was that he did not get a goal to his name and he should have added to his impressive seasonal tally following Mark Greaves’ defensive error on the hour. Greaves misjudged a bouncing ball to leave Lambert through on goal and the striker coolly lobbed the advancing goalkeeper for what looked like a certain goal only to see his effort drift the wrong side of the post.

The game drew slowly to a close following Lambert’s miss as the pitch and Boston’s defensive tactics combined to deny Dale the three points. They managed to create one last chance before the final whistle and it was worth waiting for as Lambert and the impressive young striker Dagnall combined for the best move of the game. Lambert played an excellent ball inside for the advancing home-debutant and he turned his man before firing at goal and Logan produced a fine save to ensure the Pilgrims took a point from their afternoon’s toil. It was a draw that was probably a fair reflection on a game that struggled to burst into life apart from the occasional opportunity for both sides but Rochdale fans will look to Lambert’s crucial missed chance as the reason they did not pick up a consecutive victory.