Rochdale 6 (Dagnall 14, 32, 58, Thorpe 62, Le Fondre 68, Buckley 69) Chester 1 (McArdle og 53) - Full Time Report

Photo: Jon Coluccio

Lee Thorpe on the ball.

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Rochdale handed Chester a battering as the ten man visitors collapsed in the second half.

Glen Rule’s sending off for a foul on Joe Thompson was sandwiched in between two emphatic finishes from Dale striker Chris Dagnall in the first half.

Chester managed to fight back as Rory McArdle headed into his own net but the respite for Chester did not last long.

Dagnall’s hat-trick goal settled any nerves and from then on it was easy pickings as Lee Thorpe, Adam Le Fondre and Will Buckley helped themselves to further goals.

Dale could and perhaps should have had more as Buckley and Ciaran Toner both hit the post in the dying stages.

There were early chances for both sides as Paul Linwood headed a first minute Chester corner over the top and then Gary Jones fired in a low shot at the other end that skipped narrowly wide of John Danby’s far upright.

The lively start was clearly a sign of things to come.

From the back of the stand Keith Hill urged his young wingers Joe Thompson and Will Buckley to play high up the field and press on their respective full backs. Dale had plenty of early joy down the flanks with both wingers putting in dangerous balls but half chances for Thorpe and Thompson were the only result.

Dale carved Chester open with much more affect on the fifteen minute mark. Thompson and Buckley spread to allow Toner and Jones to partake in some intricate midfield play and when Jones put Chris Dagnall in with only one defender to beat there was only going to be one winner as the in-form striker waltzed into the box and finished with aplomb.

Dale remained on top and Dagnall was close again seven minutes later, this time powering a header just over the top from a well whipped in Tom Kennedy free-kick.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when they were reduced to ten men on the half hour for an appallingly late tackle from Glen Rule on Joe Thompson, which, whilst it was not particularly malicious, was so late it left the referee with little choice.

Dale pressed home their advantage with a superbly worked goal that came largely thanks to the efforts of Thompson. The winger cut in from the right flank and burst into the box before playing a wonderfully subtle pass for Dagnall who turned his man and finished as emphatically as he had the first.

Dale passed out the rest of the half comfortably against a Chester side that looked increasingly forlorn in the driving Spotland rain. The home side had further chances as the two wingers continued to give their full backs no end of trouble. Four times they got to the byline to cut the ball back but the strikers could not time their runs to convert.

Chester had their strongest period at the end of the half as Sam Russell was finally tested by a snap Kevin Ellison shot from twenty-five yards and then Ryan Lowe’s free kick got a deflection as it sailed narrowly over the bar.

Dale’s football was much less convincing at the start of the second half and their inability to keep clean sheets caused them a nervous time of things as Rory McArdle scored a second own goal of the season. Lowe whipped in another dangerous free kick and McArdle succeeded only in putting the ball convincingly beyond Russell.

The goal awakened Dale from the slumber and as soon as they turned it on again Dagnall had his hat trick. Thompson fed the striker once more and his ability to turn again left the Chester defence exposed. The third emphatic finish soon followed.

Three soon became four as Buckley put a cross over that Thompson nudged on for Lee Thorpe to finish.

Chester completely collapsed at the back and two more goals quickly followed. Substitute Adam Le Fondre, on for the immaculate Dagnall, got the first as he was allowed all the time in the world to latch onto Kennedy’s cross, bring it down and finish underneath Danby.

Will Buckley polished off Dale’s sixth. Thompson latched onto Danby’s poor kick, drove into the box and beat the keeper with the finish. The ball was cleared off the line but Thompson managed to retrieve the ball, lay it back for Le Fondre to finish and Buckley made sure from six yards out.

There was plenty of time for more from a rampant home side but they seemed mostly content to keep hold of the ball. That was not to say that they could not walk through the Chester defence at will if they chose, and on one occasion Buckley decided he fancied another and bent a shot against the post from the edge of the box.

The remaining ten minutes followed a similar pattern until Toner lashed a shot against the upright from twenty yards with what was practically the last kick of the game.

Attendance: 2162

Rochdale: Russell, Wiseman, Kennedy, Stanton, McArdle, Buckley, Jones (Keltie 86), Toner, Thompson, Dagnall (Le Fondre 64), Thorpe (Rundle 76).
Subs (not used): Holness, Spencer.

Chester: Danby, J. Vaughan, Rule, Roberts, Linwood, S. Vaughan, Hughes, Mozika, Johnson (Barry 75), Lowe, Ellison.
Subs (not used): Harris, Taylor, McManus, Rutherford.

Sent Off: Rule

Attempts (on target): Rochdale 17 (9) Chester 6 (2)
Free kicks: Rochdale 16 Chester 13
Offside: Rochdale 3 Chester 9
Corners: Rochdale 4 Chester 3

Referee: Mark Haywood