Rochdale 3 (Buckley 45, Dagnall 72, Le Fondre 90) Notts County 0 – Full Time Report

Photo: Jon Coluccio

Dagnall wheels away after netting Dale's second.

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Rochdale did the double over Notts County thanks to a first half goal from Will Buckley and second half strikes from Chris Dagnall and Adam Le Fondre.

It was far from Dale’s finest performance, but the clean sheet will delight everyone connected with the club given Dale’s defensive frailties of late.

Notts came with the clear intention to contain but they could never really alter their tactics once they had fallen behind. It showed by the fact that they did not manage a shot on goal all evening.

Rochdale led form side County at the break thanks to Will Buckley’s strike right on the half time whistle.

The game seemed to take an age to spring to life but chances finally arrived towards the end of the half. Delroy Facey should have opened the scoring for the visitors when the ball dropped for him six yards out and then Joe Thompson drew a fine save from Josh Lillis at the other end.

The first hour was, to be diplomatic, closely contested, in that both sides offered very little in attack. In contrast to recent form, which has seen both outfits find the net plenty of times in recent weeks, there was only a horribly shanked Delroy Facey effort and a Chris Dagnall header, glanced well over the top, to speak of in the opening period.

Towards the end of the half things livened up slightly. The County defence, hampered by the loss of Mike Edwards early on, failed to deal with a bouncing ball. Stand-in centre half Nat Wedderburn and goalkeeper Josh Lillis got into a tangle and the ball popped out for Nicky Adams to try an audacious chip; the less said about the winger’s effort the better.

Adams did much better minutes later when, for the first time, the Dale attack was able to penetrate the Notts backline. Will Buckley held the ball up in the box before weighting the ball for Adams. The ex-Bury man drilled his shot low from an angle and Lillis did well to gather.

Dale finally looked to have gained the ascendency but it was the visitors who squandered the chance of the half when Myles Weston’s excellent cross dropped perfectly for Facey. The striker did not seem to be expecting the ball and it bounced up nicely for Frank Fielding to gather.

Lillis was drawn into the save of the half when Joe Thompson found room on the edge of the box to hit a curling shot, destined for the bottom corner before Lillis intervened to tip it round the post.

Right on half time the Dale goal came. Gary Jones made a typical burst from midfield and fired the ball in for Dagnall. The cross sprang up off the striker and nicely into the path of Buckley, whose shot on the turn was slightly deflected to take it away from Lillis and into the corner.

The second half saw things open up from the first whistle. Dale pushed for a second, with fullbacks Tom Kennedy and Scott Wiseman both enjoying forays forward. This created space in behind for Notts to counter and although there was nothing clear created at first, it certainly made for a much more entertaining encounter.

Dale looked to have their defensive frailties conquered but they survived strong handball shouts in the box when Myles Weston’s shot appeared to strike the arm of Nathan Stanton. The referee waved away the claims.

Against the run of play Dale made it two. Wiseman seized on a moment of indecision between Weston and Jamie Clapham and the fullback marched purposefully at the Notts backline. Adam Le Fondre peeled off for Wiseman to slide him in and the substitute striker squared for Dagnall to tap in.

The second goal deflated County and the game was over as a contest. Things meandered towards full time before Le Fondre made it three deep into injury time. The striker skipped to the byline and Lillis didn’t cover himself in glory by letting Le Fondre’s shot squirm under his body.

This was an essential three points for Dale after losing their way a touch in recent weeks and the perfect tonic for Saturday’s disappointment at Dagenham. 

Attendance: 2289

Rochdale: Fielding, Wiseman, Kennedy, Stanton, McArdle, Adams (Rundle 56), Jones, Toner, Thompson, Buckley (Le Fondre 62), Dagnall.
Subs (not used): Keltie, Ramsden, McEvilly.

Notts County: Lillis, Picken, Clapham, Edwards (Wedderburn 26), Hunt, Weston, Thompson, Nowland, Hamshaw, Forrester (Fairclough 67), Facey.
Subs (not used): Tann, Johnson, Canham.

Booked: Wedderburn, Nowland.

Attempts (on target): Rochdale 13 (6) Notts County 3 (0)
Free kicks: Rochdale 12 Notts County 9
Offside: Rochdale 2 Notts County 3
Corners: Rochdale 12 Notts County 3