Rochdale frustrated by ten man Morecambe

Morecambe 1 (Artell 17)
Rochdale 1 (McArdle 55)

Rochdale came from behind to gain a point from their visit to Morecambe. It was a draw that Dale boss Keith Hill was not particularly pleased with after the visitors conceded a cheap goal and then could not make a one man advantage count when Michael Twiss was sent off for Morecambe with twenty-five minutes remaining.

Morecambe’s only attempt on target during the whole of the first half gave them the lead. Some slack marking from Rochdale allowed David Artell to get a free header to Michael Howard’s free kick and the defender made no mistake, heading the ball across goal into the far corner of the net.

Rochdale enjoyed all the first half chances but were unable to turn their ascendancy into goals. Before Artell’s opener, Morecambe had cleared the ball off the line at the other end, when James Bentley could only flick a Rochdale corner towards his own net and from the re-bound Scott Taylor’s shot was well blocked by Artell.

Taylor was again unable to apply the finishing touch minutes later. Adam Rundle broke down the left and fed the MK Dons loanee, making his first start for Rochdale, but the striker could only fire straight at Steven Drench when well placed in the Morecambe penalty area.

Morecambe took the lead against the run of play before Dale’s dominance resumed but Drench was never truly tested. Taylor fired just over the crossbar following a neat turn in the box and Drench did well to get a touch on Ben Muirhead’s cross to stop Glenn Murray from heading the ball home.

Rochdale picked up where they left off in the second half. Gary Jones saw his effort from the edge of the box turned around the post by Adam Yates on the line but there was nothing either goalkeeper or defence could do to prevent Rochdale’s equaliser on 55 minutes.

Rochdale are becoming free kick specialists, having scored headed goals from set pieces in their last three games. Dale were level when Muirhead put in a superb teasing cross following a foul on Adam Rundle and Rory McArdle planted a firm header beyond Drench.

The visitors pushed for a winner and were given an added incentive to attack when referee Kevin Friend showed Twiss a straight red card for a late, high tackle on Rochdale right-back Kelvin Lomax.

It was not the only talking point of a lively second half. Referee Friend was not making many mates among the Morecambe fans and he waved away two penalty shouts for the home side. Lomax was the Dale defender involved on both occasions. The referee appeared to wave away the claims correctly in the first instance when Morecambe substitute Jamie Burns turned into Lomax in the box and went to ground.

Two minutes from the game’s end a second penalty shout arrived and this one looked to be more substantiated when Lomax appeared to barge Burns to the ground. The referee waved away the claims once more.

The referee’s performance in the second half brought a tirade of abuse from the home fans and Morecambe boss Sammy McIlroy told the official exactly what he thought of his display at the final whistle.

Rochdale boss Keith Hill also thought he had reason to be aggrieved at some of the officiating after Rochdale had a goal ruled out for offside that would have given them the lead. Rochdale substitute Kallum Higginbotham hit a shot from the edge of the box that Drench could only parry and Murray rolled in the re-bound only for the assistant referee to adjudge the Dale striker offside.

Hill said: “I think it was not offside and I was very disappointed that it was given. I think when we see it again on video we will see that it was onside. I don’t think he was off, Glenn Murray did not think he was off, and Tony Ellis sat in the stands did not think it was off.

“I think Morecambe’s penalty shouts were ones for the crowd. I don’t think there was contact enough to be able to give Morecambe a penalty. I think the referee made good decisions but the sending off was harsh, I don’t think there was any intent.”

Rochdale continued to push for the winner and they should have had it when Glenn Murray rose above a crowd of players six yards out to get a firm head on Gary Jones’ cross but the ball sailed wide with all the Rochdale fans behind the goal expecting the net to bulge. 

Morecambe had upped their game after they were reduced to ten. Keith Hill admitted that playing against ten men is not always easy and teams can hit you with a sucker punch but he also said that his side’s display had not been good enough to win the game.

Morecambe did come close to providing the sucker punch. Having had few saves to make, Rochdale keeper James Spencer made the best one of the game to deny Matthew Blinkhorn after he latched on to a long bouncing ball. Blinkhorn hit his shot low and hard across goal but Spencer was equal to it and diverted the ball round the post.

Having conceded a late goal against Brentford last week to be denied all three points, Rochdale pushed for a late goal of their own but when Drench turned Lomax’s long range effort round the post in the dying stages it was not to be for the visitors and they were forced to settle for a point when they should have had all three once more.

Attendance: 3,651

Morecambe: Drench, Yates, Bentley, Artell, Howard, Thompson, Stanley (Burns 74), Sorvel, Twiss, Blinkhorn (Hunter 72), Newby (Curtis 72).
Subs not used: Davies, Grand.

Booked: Artell, Stanley, Howard.

Sent Off: Twiss.

Rochdale: Spencer, Lomax, Holness, McArdle, Kennedy, Muirhead (Higginbotham 76), Jones, Perkins, Rundle (Prendergast 81), Taylor (Le Fondre 60), Murray.
Subs not used: Russell, Atkinson.

Booked: McArdle.

Attempts (on target): Morecambe 7 (4) Rochdale 16 (12)
Freekicks: Morecambe 16 Rochdale 12
Offside: Morecambe 0 Rochdale 7
Corners Morecambe 2 Rochdale 9

Referee: K Friend.

More match photographs to follow.