Fleetwood 2 - 2 Rochdale

Ian Henderson rifled in a stoppage time equaliser as Rochdale twice came from behind to earn a point at  Fleetwood Town. The Dale captain fired in deep into time added on after the hosts failed to clear a Rochdale corner.

Fleetwood scored the only goal  of the first half  when Ash Hunter’s left wing cross was turned past Josh Lillis by Paddy Madden.

Henderson equalised early in the second half after the striker was caught by a flailing arm inside the box; the resultant penalty slammed home.

Parity only lasted six minutes as the dangerous Hunter’s low shot was only parried by Lillis; Ched Evans on hand to prod the ball over the line before Henderson’s heroics in stoppage time meant a share of the spoils.

Rochdale manager Keith Hill made two changes from the side that beat Grimsby in the EFL Cup in midweek. Bradden Inman and Aaron Wilbraham preferred instead of Calvin Andrew and Andy Cannon.

The first half saw few clear cut opportunities. Bradden Inman seeing an early effort blocked by Eastham whilst seconds later Wilbraham dragged a shot wide of the target from just inside the area.

Olly Rathbone warmed the hands of Cairns in the Fleetwood goal with a piledriver after a short corner routine saw the two goal hero from midweek almost add to his tally for the season.

Despite Dale having the better of the opening exchanges, it was Fleetwood who took the lead. A turnover in possession on the half way lane caught Dale short at the back and when Hunter cut inside he made space to send a low ball into the danger area and a combination of Delaney and Madden turned the ball beyond Lillis.

Dale drew level soon after the half time interval. Rathbone’s intelligent through ball saw Henderson burst into the box and when Morgan tried to stop him, his left arm smacked the Rochdale man in the face and the referee awarded a penalty which Henderson put away with aplomb. 

Hill would have wanted a spell of possession for Dale after gaining parity but Fleetwood re-took the lead just six minutes later. Hunter again caused the Dale defence problems with his shot from the edge of the box wasn’t dealt with by Lillis with Evans netting from close range.

Henderson was very lucky to escape serious injury when he was in a collision with the advertising barriers from Coyle’s attempts to lever the Dale man off the ball. Henderson collided heavily with the boards at the side of the away dugout before landing awkwardly in the stand. After a brief treatment, he was able to continue.

Protecting a slender lead, Fleetwood resorted to timewasting tactics which backfired when the officials showed five minutes added time.

Throwing everything at the Fleetwood, Dale’s pressure finally paid off when the ball fell to Henderson inside the area and last season’s leading scorer slammed in from close range to send the 704 travelling fans delirious.

Fleetwood: Cairns, Jones, Eastham, Morgan (c), Coyle, Holt (Bolger 73), Marney, Dempsey, Hunter (McAleny 83), Evans (Burns 61), Madden
Subs: (not used) Jones, Grant, Long, Sheron

Rochdale: Lillis, McGahey, McNulty, Delaney, Rafferty (Done 50), Nthle, Perkins, Rathbone (Andrew 67), inman (Camps 43), Wilbraham, Henderson  (c)
Subs: (not used) Norman, MJ Williams, Adshead, Cannon

Referee: Mr D Whitestone
Assistants: Mr P Newhouse and Mr P Graham
Fourth Official: Mr R Woodward

Attendance: 3,565 (704 from Rochdale)