Poole stunner is cruel on injury ravaged Rochdale

Adam Rundle, the man who assisted Rochdale's goal, takes on his Ben Starosta

9 More Image(s) In Gallery

Rochdale 1 (Murray 63)
Brentford 1 (Poole 88)

Rochdale looked to have done enough to secure victory when Glenn Murray flicked Adam Rundle’s free kick into the net with an hour played. They were denied when Brentford midfielder Glenn Poole, who spent the end of last season on loan with Rochdale, hit a stunning late strike to rescue a point for his side.

It was a game that Rochdale should have won, given that Brentford offered very little in attack. However, the visitors were always in it when faced with only a one goal deficit and one bit of quality was all it needed for them to equalise. Most of the visiting fans must have resigned themselves to defeat, given that their side had not looked like scoring all afternoon. Rochdale were heading comfortably towards victory with two minutes remaining when Poole came up with the quality that Brentford had been lacking.

Poole had been given a good reception from the Rochdale support after he had endeared himself to them with a couple of decent displays for Rochdale at the back and of last season. None of the fans who were at Peterborough for the final game of last season will forget Poole’s last action in a Rochdale shirt. When so-called Peterborough ‘fans’ stormed the pitch at full time, Poole was punched to the floor by one thug. None of the Dale fans would begrudge him his equaliser here.

The twenty-six year old found himself in plenty of space twenty yards from goal and he hit a stunning half volley which gave Rochdale goalkeeper James Spencer, who had been solid throughout, no chance. The ball flew into the far corner of Rochdale’s net via the inside of the post.

Poole enjoys his visits to the north-west having scored his only other goal for Brentford when opening the scoring in his side’s 2-1 win over Rochdale’s neighbours Bury earlier this season.

Rochdale manager Keith Hill was quick to praise Poole and his own players, given the week that Rochdale have had on the injury front. Of Dale’s defenders, Rory McArdle was only able to play after a painkilling injection, Tom Kennedy had been ill all week and Hill met replacement centre half Robert Atkinson, on loan from Barnsley, for the first time a few hours before kick off.

Hill said: “It’s an unbelievable goal for Brentford but I was really pleased with our performance. We looked a bit apprehensive at first but I thought we deserved the three points but then Glenn Poole pops up with an unbelievable goal. In football you do not always get what you want when you deserve it.

“I was very encouraged by the performance given the week we have had in terms of getting a team onto the pitch. We only had one fit defender at the club on Thursday.”

Rochdale had ‘deserved it’ as it was they that created all the half chances. Rochdale had the better of a largely eventless first half and then pushed up a gear at the start of the second.

Murray glanced a Ben Muirhead free-kick onto the face of the crossbar with the second half only a few minutes old and he was not to be denied when he put a similar header on Rundle’s centre with half an hour remaining. The Dale left winger has assisted his side’s last three goals and Rochdale had used the free kick routine which gave Adam Le Fondre the opener at Grimsby last week to good effect once more.

Rochdale looked more likely to increase their lead than Brentford did to cancelling it but this was a game were possession was never turned into clear goal scoring opportunities. Both keepers were solid, Spencer especially so, but neither had to exert themselves in the shot stopping department. Brentford’s Simon Brown made the best save of the game when Gary Jones well struck free kick stung his hands as Dale searched for a game-killing second.

The first half did little inspire a quiet home crowd. The game was played out in near silence, given that the visiting fans were not sufficient in numbers to generate noise, until things became livelier in the second.

The goalless score line at the interval certainly reflected the play with both sides playing out a turgidly even affair but there was enough to suggest that if Rochdale pushed up a gear in the second half the win would be theirs for the taking; they had played the football but it took until after the break to manifest itself into chances on goal.

That was exactly how the second half played out. Dale’s increasing endeavour had given them the opener and the impetus to secure victory with a second but when it did not come Poole’s deserving intervention re-wrote the script.

A victory for Rochdale would have put the gloss on last Friday’s fine win at Grimsby but despite the dropped points here Keith Hill believes his side are heading back in the right direction. He said: “Three points would have taken us close to where we want to be with a game in hand but we are not quite there yet.”

Attendance 2,424

Rochdale: Spencer, Lomax, Holness (Atkinson 72), McArdle, Kennedy, Muirhead (Prendergast 85), Jones, Perkins, Rundle, Murray, Le Fondre (Taylor 57).
Subs not used: Russell, Higginbotham.

Brentford: Simon Brown, O’Connor, Mackie (Pettigrew 71), Heywood, Starosta, Ide, Charles, Pead (Smith 83), Poole, Shakes (Connell 71), Thorpe.
Subs not used: Sebastien Brown, Moore.

Booked: Charles.

Attempts (on target): Rochdale 13 (7) Brentford 7 (3)
Freekicks: Rochdale 24 Brentford 20
Offside: Rochdale 6 Brentford 6
Corners: Rochdale 4 Brentford 1

Referee: M Oliver.

Match photographs to follow.