Points Shared in Dull Derby

Rochdale 1 - 1 Bury

A draw was the most likely outcome of a poor game between two poor sides on a poor pitch and that proved to be the case when Rochdale were awarded a controversial second half penalty; Rickie Lambert’s spot-kick cancelled out Tom Youngs’ opener for Bury. Neither side deserved to take the points in a game that seldom warmed the spirits on a freezing cold night at Spotland.

The game proved to be an evenly matched affair with the conditions and state of the pitch dictating the nature of the play. The ball was seldom seen on the floor in a stop-start first half in which the home side created the better of the chances with two efforts being cleared off the line.

A Lyseden Christie miss-struck shot fell into the path of Lambert and he beat Kasper Schmeichel, son of Manchester United legend Peter, in the Bury goal only for Woodthorpe to hook the ball clear as far as Gary Jones who volleyed over the crossbar. Later in the half a Lambert corner, one of few to get beyond the first man, reached Jon Boardman at the back post but again the effort was cleared from the line.

Quality was hard to come by in a hard fought first half in which both sides were mainly limited to half chances with passes going astray on the difficult surface whilst both sets of defenders kept the ball out more through luck than judgement in the swirling wind.

Rochdale were the livelier of the two sides at the start of the second period and Christie showed an improvement up front after a lacklustre first half; he beat two defenders en route to the by-line and his square ball reached Gary Jones, whose shot was somehow beaten away by an impressive Schmeichel. Again Bury struggled to clear their lines and the ball fell to Doolan but he fired his curled effort just wide of the target.

This sparked a spell of pressure for the visitors as they enjoyed long spells in possession but lacked the cutting edge needed to open the scoring. They were unfortunate, however, not be awarded what looked to be a clear penalty when Tom Youngs was tripped by Bayliss. The referee waved away the protests whilst the officials on the Bury bench went ballistic at the decision.

Youngs was not to be denied however and he opened the scoring from Bury’s next attack. Steve Parkin had warned his defenders of the threat from the infamous long throws of Bury centre half Dave Challinor before the game but they seemed to take little notice of the warning as Challinor’s ball in was flicked onto Youngs who finished with ease.

The home side were struggling for ideas with the midfield seldom able to get the ball down and use the pace of Christie or substitute Chris Dagnall. Bury continued to enjoy more of the ball and should have put the game beyond Dale when Matthew Gilks completely misjudged a cross into the Rochdale danger zone and the ball fell to David Buchanan who volleyed over the bar with the goal gaping.

Dale were then handed a lifeline at a time when they never looked like they were going to get one. Another misjudgement, this time Challinor completely missing a hopeless punt upfield, allowed Christie in behind the Bury defence and he nudged the ball past the oncoming Schmeichel who then seemed to take out the Dale striker and the referee pointed to the spot. The replays, however, reflect a much more questionable decision as the young Manchester City loan keeper takes both ball and man in his attempt to deny Christie. Lambert was clinical with the spot-kick to level the scores.

This marked the end of the chances and although Rochdale were now buoyed by their equaliser they failed to create anything deserving of a winner for the remaining twenty minutes, whilst Bury’s minor threat was now nullified and they had to settle for a point when perhaps they deserved more. Both sets of fans left the ground with more to complain about than the cold weather; Rochdale were again poor, showing no signs of the decent display at Cheltenham at the weekend, whilst Bury will point the finger of complaint at the referee for two points lost.