Macclesfield 0 Rochdale 1 (Kennedy 45 pen) - Full Time Report

Photo: Alan Ryder

Kennedy celebrates his decisive goal.

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Tom Kennedy’s penalty late in the first half was enough to give Rochdale their fourth successive victory.

The referee awarded the spot kick after goalkeeper Jon Brain brought down Chris Dagnall in the box, although the Macclesfield stopper appeared to be hard done by as he looked to get the ball.

Although the referee gave the spot kick, Brain was only booked for the supposed offence.

Dale enjoyed the majority of the possession in the first half but, aside from winning 11 corners, there was little other action in the Macclesfield box.

It was a quiet opening to the game as both sides tried to come to terms with the awkward Moss Rose playing surface, which was hardly conducive to flowing football.

Dale had largely the better of the early exchanges with a series of corners and slowly they began to put the home side under increased pressure. Gary Jones' deflected shot trickled narrowly past a post, while goalkeeper Jon Brain looked less than convincing from the set pieces.

The visitors were well on top after half an hour gone but they could not turn their possession into anything more meaningful than the 11 corners they won in the half.

Dale seemed almost too relaxed on the ball and it almost cost them when Rory McArdle waited for the ball to come to him and Tom Elliott stole it off his toes. The rangy striker took the ball wide and Frank Fielding raced to the edge of his box to narrow the angle. Elliott found Nat Brown in the box but he could not guide the ball into the unguarded goal. 

Dale took the lead from the penalty spot after the referee adjudged Brain to have hauled down Dagnall, who had latched onto Scott Wiseman’s long ball over the top. 

The home fans were less than impressed with the decision and Brain did seem to make contact with the ball before Dagnall fell over the keeper. Tom Kennedy dispatched the penalty convincingly. 

Dale made a comfortable start to the second period but Frank Fielding was forced into a fine save on the hour mark when Brown’s shot, from a shortly taken free-kick, caught a Dale defender en route to goal. Fielding did well to scramble across goal and palm the ball out. 

Dale’s attacks had gone a bit stale but they could have doubled their lead when Joe Thompson found Dagnall with an inside pass. The striker beat two men in the box and eventually got beyond the goalkeeper but he was closed down before he could get a shot away and the chance petered out.

Macclesfield began to enjoy more pressure as the half wore on. Twice Fielding’s hands were stung as the home side looked to offer more up front. The Dale stopper made strong blocks from shots from Gareth Evans and James Jennings and Emile Sinclair should have done better than to scoop the ball into the keeper’s hands after outpacing McArdle to get in on goal. 

Dale held on for the win thanks to a solid defensive performance in an encounter that was far from being the most entertaining of the season. The clean sheet was all important, Dale’s second in a row, against a hard working Macclesfield outfit that never really did enough to earn something from the game. 

Attendance: 2396 

Macclesfield: Brain, Reid, Jennings, Hessey (Evans 60), Morgan, Brisley, Bell, Brown, Thomas, Sinclair, Elliott (Yeo 75).
Subs (not used): Flynn, Tolley, Rooney.

Booked: Thomas, Brain, Sinclair.

Rochdale: Fielding, Wiseman, Kennedy, Stanton, McArdle, Adams (McEvilly 81), Toner, Jones, Thompson, Dagnall (Le Fondre 68), Buckley (Rundle 68).
Subs (not used): Keltie, Ramsden.

Booked: Dagnall, Stanton. 

Attempts (on target): Macclesfield 8 (5) Rochdale 12 (5)
Freekicks: Macclesfield 21 Rochdale 13
Offside: Macclesfield 2 Rochdale 3
Corners: Macclesfield 5 Rochdale 13 

Referee: C Sarginson.