Dale suffer pre-season hiccup

Manager Keith Hill & Assistant Dave Flitcroft share a thought during the match against Southport

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Southport 2 (Gray, Evans) Rochdale 0

Rochdale tasted defeat for the first time in pre-season at the hands of Conference North side Southport. Tidy goals in each half won it for the Haig Avenue outfit and whilst Dale enjoyed plenty of time on the ball they struggled to turn that possession into true goal scoring opportunities. Manager Keith Hill said after the game that his side’s performance in front of goal was a bit of a concern.

One player who has been missed by Dale in their opening fixtures is Glenn Murray, who remains sidelined due to a niggling ankle injury. Murray would have thrived on some of the crosses supplied by the wingers in the first half, whilst his presence up top could have meant the ball remained in Southport’s final third for longer periods; the strike force of Chris Dagnall and Adam Le Fondre was at times noticeably one dimensional and whilst Murray’s injury will no doubt have cleared by the time the season kicks off at Peterborough, there would be concerns if he was to become injured or suspended during the campaign.

Other than the lack of goals and the two that were poorly conceded, the general performance will not overly concern Hill and it is not worth over talking what was admittedly a surprising defeat; this is pre-season and such defeats do occasionally happen, in some respects it is not the result that counts. Hill said: “I’m not happy that we’ve been beaten but it is only pre-season; there’s no position in the table lost, no points to play for and I think it could be a blessing in disguise because everything’s gone too well if you like in respect to the preparation and the games that we’ve played. There were no hiccups in Cadiz, no hiccups before that, no hiccups since we’ve been back so I think it’s important to taste defeat, strangely enough, to see how we react to it as a coaching team and as players.”

The more important things to come out of the game are factors such as a full ninety minutes played by Gary Jones, a feat not achieved since February, and another game under the belts of a new back four, or back five if you include keeper James Spencer, who could do little about the goals and made two good saves, one in the first half from a near post Tony Gray drive strongly turned around the post and one in the second, turning Mark Houghton’s nudge away at full stretch.

This was also another chance for Hill to look at Jerome Watt, the trial winger who impressed in a short spell against Rossendale on Wednesday night. Again the quick footed wide man caused problems and Southport’s goal right on half time might have been an equaliser or less if the front men could have latched onto some excellent Watt crosses or even if one of his two powerfully struck long range efforts had whistled inside the posts rather than the other side of each upright.

Watt was one of the mainstays of a strong opening period for Dale, one which would have seen them take the lead early if referee Andrew Scregg had pointed to the spot when Adam Le Fondre was felled by onrushing Southport keeper Richard Whiteside, instead the official awarded a corner when, if it was not a penalty, it should certainly have been a goal kick.

Dale continued to dominate but Whiteside was only twice tested. Gary Jones stung the hands of the keeper with a drive from the edge of the box, Whiteside doing well to turn the ball away to his right and later he was out quickly to deny Watt at close quarters, preventing Dale’s best move from resulting in a goal after Watt played a one-two with Dagnall to get himself in on goal.

Further chances were squandered. Le Fondre whipped a superb early across the box, which zipped on the wet Haig Avenue surface, the ball evaded Chris Dagnall to reach Gary Jones at the far post but he blazed over on the stretch.

It seemed that Dale would have to wait until the second half for their goal, as they had against Rossendale, but here Southport had the sting in their tales to punish Dale’s finishing. In a league game Simon Ramsden might not have allowed Neil Prince the time to get the by-line and dig out what was an excellent cross but what will be more disappointing for Keith Hill was to then see Tony Gray steal into a large gap between the centre halves and score with a header back across goal.

Substitutes aplenty were deemed necessary in the second half and Dale lost any semblance of rhythm, their one-dimensional attack wearing thin and their wingers not enjoying the space afforded to them in the first half. Good link up between the strikers resulted in Le Fondre’s low strike being deflected away by the legs of Whiteside, the last action the pair of them saw before being substituted.

With Dale struggling for impetus, Southport wrapped up victory when Michael Powell’s low and somewhat desperate punt up field went straight under David Perkins’ boot as he missed his kick, leaving Houghton to latch onto the ball and he wasted no time in finding Tony Evans with a low cross and he turned the excellent pass into maximum profit with a finish into the bottom corner.

Thoughts now turn to the Rose Bowl Trophy against Oldham and Keith Hill is determined to keep up a record that has never seen his side lose two games in a row. He said: “I’m bitterly disappointed, as are the lads, in the respect of losing games; we don’t like losing games, we’re not in a losing industry, that we all find hard to accept and it’s just a question of making sure that everybody is collectively ready, without losing any belief from today, going into the game against Oldham on Tuesday night.”

Attendance: 806

Southport: Whiteside, Powell, Wisdom, Hocking, Ridler (Lee), Prout (Ferguson), Duffy, Blakeman, Gray (Evans), Holland, Prince (Houghton).

Rochdale: Spencer, Ramsden, Kennedy (Doolan), McArdle (Crooks), D’Laryea (Brown), Muirhead, Jones, Perkins, Watt (Prendergast), Dagnall (Higginbotham), Le Fondre (W. Buckley).

Attempts (on target): Southport 8 (3) Rochdale 12 (4)
Freekicks: Southport 15 Rochdale 15
Offside: Southport 5 Rochdale 6
Corners: Southport 4 Rochdale 5