Players can be proud after penalty heartbreak

Darel Russell takes evasive action from Dale defender Rory McArdle

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Rochdale 1 (Murray 9)
Norwich City 1 (Dublin 49)(AET)(Norwich win 4-3 on penalties)

Football can be a cruel game and Rochdale fans know that better than most; you often get what you don’t deserve. On Saturday Rochdale did not deserve the point that they somehow received from their trip to Hereford. Here they did not deserve to be knocked out of the Carling Cup on penalties after dominating the goal scoring chances against Championship side Norwich.

The Rochdale players can hold their heads high after playing more than a bit role in a tremendously entertaining fixture. Indeed the home side were really the main attraction for long periods in the game, particularly in the first half, showing no fear against their more illustrious opponents.

Whilst Norwich stalled on the starting blocks, at times trying to find neutral, never mind first gear, Dale got at their opponents without a moments’ hesitation The home side had created three decent chances even before Glenn Murray gave them the lead in only the ninth minute. John Doolan struck a snap shot over the bar as Dale set their stall out for flowing football, the build up involving a one touch move between Simon Ramsden and Chris Dagnall before the scouse midfielder struck narrowly over.

Dagnall himself was given the next presentable opportunity. Tom Kennedy flighted a superb cross-field ball over the top for Dagnall to latch onto but again the target was missed, this time thanks to the presence of Norwich defender Ian Murray being enough to put the Dale striker off.

Glenn Murray headed wide from Rundle’s cross before he gave Dale the lead, Pouncing on a calamitous piece of Canaries defending. Ian Murray was again making his presence felt in trying to block off namesake Glenn from latching onto Dagnall’s pass, but presence became present as he scuffed his back pass for the Dale striker to latch onto and he made no mistake with a finish in off the near post.

Any thoughts of a Norwich backlash were put firmly on hold as Dale continued to dominate, playing a quality of football worthy of their opponents. The Canaries may have thought they were getting a respite from Championship football and performed accordingly, it took them until their manager had chance to give them a reminder in the dressing room that if they were to come through the tie they themselves would need to start playing some football that reflected their status.

The Norwich players responded and the start of the second half belonged to them. Glimpses had arisen in the first half. Simon Ramsden and Ben Muirhead between them had to done well to cope with the pace of Darren Huckerby but a player of that ilk is always going to slip through the net on the odd occasion but Huckerby’s skill was not matched with good decision making, taking on too many defenders when shots and crosses were in order.

Norwich had not played well for long before they equalised, just four minutes into the second half in fact; Dion Dublin turning in a low Simon Lappin cross at the near post. Dublin had been a joy to watch for the football supporters in the stadium who do not get to witness men of his quality too often; it was not just his aerial ability that impressed, as you might expect, but also his use of the ball once he had won it. He deserved the knowledgeable applause of the Rochdale fans when he was substituted during extra time.

Nowich did not have things all their own way once they had equalised, despite their domination of the possession. David Marshall was kept on his toes at the other end as Dale broke away speedily if ever a Norwich move broke down. Marshall was forced to turn Dagnall’s drive away for a corner when one such break ended with an effort on goal.

At both ends Dale had to be at their best and in all positions they found more than willing runners for the cause. For all their possession Norwich’s clear goal scoring chances were kept very much to a minimum thanks to Dale’s defensive efforts. This was no more evident than when Chris Martin would surely have scored from Huckerby’s pass had it not been for the tackling back of Dale captain Gary Jones, sliding in with Martin ready to pull the trigger.

Penalties are of course the cruellest method of being removed from a cup competition. The winners, namely the Norwich players, will have forgotten their underperformance of the game itself well before their team bus arrives back home in the early hours - they go through, job done. The losers, the Rochdale players, are left to reflect on what might have been and they will know that it might well have been them in the third round draw, where the Premiership big fish await, if extra time chances had been taken.

Glenn Murray will no doubt take a second to think about when he could only hit the keeper after superb work by Dagnall in skipping away from Gary Doherty and feeding his strike partner. Doherty will no doubt have been thankful of Dagnall’s sporting nature as he chased his shadow. If the Dale striker had gone down following Doherty’s blatant shirt pull and wrestle to the ground in trying to prevent the striker’s escape into the clear, a second yellow card would no doubt have been the result for the Ireland international.

Other post match day dreamers will include Ben Muirhead, blazing over the crossbar on the volley after latching on, slightly too late, to Rory Prendergast’s deep cross.

The most reflective of all will probably be Dagnall who had the most glorious chance of all to win it for Dale in the final minute. He and Adam Le Fondre linked up superbly before Le Fondre’s volleyed knock down was perfect for Dagnall, who chose the slide rule rather than the smashed finish and the look on his face said it all as the ball slid inches wide.

Norwich did not need a second invitation to be let off the Dale hook and they despatched their penalties with the air of a side who knew that they had scraped through to spot kicks and were not going to take any prisoners now that they had survived the battle. All were despatched without James Spencer coming within six feet of them and when Rory Prendergast and Gary Jones saw their kicks saved, Norwich were free to fully remove the hooks from their mouths and escape back to Norfolk with a place in the next round secured; they knew as well as anyone that the Rochdale players could be proud of their performance.

Keith Hill now needs to ensure that his players do not rest on their laurels. Their thus far stagnant league campaign has cried out for this kind of passionate display of flowing football. The team has to harness this performance in the hope of recreating it consistently, starting with a display capable of giving them three points in what will undoubtedly be another tough game when MK Dons visit Spotland on Saturday, only then can they be truly proud of what this performance did for them.

Man-of-the-match – Chris Dagnall – Despite Adam Le Fondre’s presence on the Dale bench, Dagnall’s displays are almost making him undroppable. Here he had everything but the goal his skill, link up play and work rate had deserved. More performances like this and the goals will surely follow. The same can be said of his team, more performances like this and the points will surely follow – Dagnall will play a big part in making that happen.

Attendance: 2990

Rochdale: Spencer, Ramsden, McArdle, Branston, Kennedy, Muirhead, Doolan, Jones, Rundle (Prendergast 72), Dagnall, Murray (Le Fondre 115).
Subs not used: Rigby, Crooks, Higginbotham.

Booked: Ramsden, McArdle, Muirhead.

Norwich: Marshall, Otsemobor, Doherty, Shackell, Murray (Chadwick 46), Russell, Brellier (Croft 95), Lappin, Martin, Dublin (Brown 103), Huckerby.
Subs not used: Gilks, Spillane.

Booked: Brellier, Doherty.

Attempts (on target): Rochdale 14 (7) Norwich 13 (6)
Freekicks: Rochdale 16 Norwich 22
Offside: Rochdale 4 Norwich 1
Corners: Rochdale 13 Norwich 7
(statistics include extra time)

Penalties:
Rochdale – Kennedy – Scored
Norwich – Brown – Scored
Rochdale – Le Fondre – Scored
Norwich – Lappin – Scored
Rochdale – Prendergast – Saved
Norwich – Martin – Scored
Rochdale – Dagnall – Scored
Norwich – Huckerby – Scored
Rochdale – Jones – Saved

Referee: Colin Webster.