Football: Rochdale 0 - 2 Fleetwood Town

It was a night to forget as Rochdale’s hopes of escaping relegation took a huge blow as they went down to a home defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Fleetwood Town.

Two second half goals ended Dale’s mini revival as they remain six points from safety with eleven games remaining.

To make a bad night worse, Andy Cannon was taken by ambulance to hospital after being carried off the field on a stretcher with a suspected fractured cheekbone.

Billy Knott was given his first start in a Dale shirt with Bradden Inman dropping to the bench whilst there was a return to the match day squad for Joe Rafferty who missed the last two games through injury.

With these two sides struggling at the wrong end of the table, this game was an important one for both teams hopes of avoiding a relegation back to League Two. Fleetwood started the day five points clear of Rochdale although Dale have two games in hand.

The first half offered very little in terms of goal mouth action with neither goalkeeper required to make a meaningful save.

Scott Wiseman sent a powerful cross in from the right that deflected off Nathan Pond and just wide. From the resultant corner, Ryan Delaney fired a shot over the bar from inside the box.

The second half didn’t spark into life until the hour mark and it came after a lengthy stoppage which resulted in Dale’s Andy Cannon being taken away on a stretcher. The midfielder came off worst when he contested a header in the centre circle which saw him receive six minutes of treatment before leaving the field to a standing ovation from all four sides of the ground.

The injury to Cannon hindered Dale and when Kyle Dempsey burst through from midfield, his run and shot brought about a good save from Lillis but the rebound fell kindly to Paddy Madden who nodded home from close range.

With a goal advantage, Fleetwood looked to kill off the game at every opportunity as they slowed the pace down.

Dale introduced Alex Dobre off the bench looking for a spark with his pace and trickery. The on-loan man from Bournemouth had a handful of shots at goal, some off target whilst the others never really troubled Cairns.

With the clock about to strike the 90- minute mark, Dale were hit by the sucker punch which sealed the win for Fleetwood. With Dale pushing for an equaliser, Fleetwood hit on the counter attack - former Dale striker Bobby Grant the instigator. Two second half substitutes in Grant and Jordy Hiwula combined as the former fed a delightful ball through to Hiwula who made no mistake from inside the area as he fired past Lillis.

That goal sparked a mass exodus from the home ends and despite eight minutes added time being shown, Rochdale could not break down the stubborn Fleetwood defence despite Dobre’s best efforts.

Rochdale: Lillis, McGahey, McNulty, Delaney (Dobre 71), Wiseman, Done, Camps, Cannon (Kitching 61), Knott (Inman 71), Henderson ©, Camps
Subs: (not used) Moore, Rafferty. Rathbone, Davies

Fleetwood: Cairns, Eastham, Pond, Bolger, Coyle, Hunter, Sowerby, Dempsey, Diagouraga, McAleny (Hiwula 75), Madden (Grant 85)
Subs: (not used) Neal, Burns, Maguire, Glendon, Biggins

Referee: Mr T Kettle
Assistants: Mr J Simpson and Mr S Wade
Fourth Official: Mr T Nield

Attendance: 2,403​