Ellison wins it for Chester with Dale still questioning linesman

David Perkins and Adam Le Fondre realise that Le Fondre's goal has been ruled offside

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Rochdale 1 (Ramsden 21)
Chester City 2 (Grant 58, Ellison 90)

Rochdale find themselves bottom of the premature League Two table after their season continued to stall on the starting blocks against Chester. Dale were dominant in the first half and took a deserved lead but Chester were a changed side in the second and got back into proceedings. Dale thought they had won it late on but a harsh looking offside decision saw them have a goal chalked off and Chester rubbed salt fully into Dale wounds when Kevin Ellison grabbed maximum points for Chester in the dying stages.

The first half belonged to Dale as they came up against a Chester side that looked, frankly, out of their depth. For all their dominance however, Dale were far from rampant in terms of creating goal scoring opportunities. They had a lot of corners and a lot of ball in the Chester danger zone but Dale struggling to create anything clear cut for their strike force of Glenn Murray and Adam Le Fondre.

The one time John Danby was tested in the Chester goal he came up well short of the grade when he weakly flapped at a Dale corner, the ball fell at the feet of Lee Crooks who shot first time, his attempt was blocked on the on the line, arguably by a hand, but the referee did not have to make a decision as Simon Ramsden turned the ball in from close range.

Rochdale looked far more likely to double their lead than Chester did to cancelling it out but the visitors were always in the game whilst their deficit remained at one. Dale failed to make their dominance count against a poor Chester side and they went into half time just a goal in front. Chester had got away lightly with their abject showing and they took full advantage.

Roles were reversed in the second half and it was evident from an early stage when Ellison missed a glorious chance to bring Chester level when he shrugged off Simon Ramsden to go clear. Ellison shot early but screwed the ball horribly wide of the far post.

Rochdale had a couple of half chances to make Chester pay. Adam Rundle beat a man on the left and pulled a superb ball back across the face of goal but the Dale strikers, as occurred throughout the afternoon, were not in the right place at the right time.

Murray stung the hands of Danby from twenty yards as Dale continued to try and press home their advantage but in truth Danby’s save, palmed out for a corner, was one of few that he was forced to make throughout.

For Chester, Ellison had looked like getting the better of Ramsden for the majority of the afternoon in the battle between the two on the Dale right and when the former £100,000 Hull signing rounded the Dale right back midway through the second half to get to the byline, Tony Grant was on hand to take full advantage of his perfect cut back to bury the ball in the bottom corner.

The goal gave the home side the kick up the backside that their play had required and they thought they had regained the lead that they had surrendered far too easily. It was all smiles when Le Fondre turned in substitute Chris Dagnall’s ball across the six yard box but smiles turned to frowns as the fans and the players spotted a linesman’s flag denying the goal.

Keith Hill was adamant that Le Fondre was not offside: “I’ve studied the video and he’s not offside, there’s no way that Adam Le Fondre is offside and I’m not using it as an excuse, I won’t use it as an excuse, it’s a refereeing decision I would not have it any other way but ultimately that decision could have cost us three points.

Hill was quick to point out that Chester may still have scored their second whether Le Fondre’s goal had stood or not but at least it would only have been a late equaliser for Chester instead of a gut wrenching winner. It was superbly taken from Ellison, calmly slotted home under the body of Dale keeper James Spencer, but it came from a pass that all too easily split the Dale centre halves and left Ellison in the clear.

Keith Hill admitted after the game that his side will not be quick to earn their first points of the campaign if they keep conceding goals so easily. He said: “I’m concerned about the way we are defending, the winning goal should not have been a goal scoring opportunity if we defend properly. I’m really disappointed with the goals we’ve conceded - you win matches with clean sheets.”

Man-of-the-Match – Kevin Ellison – Simon Ramsden was always going to find himself in a spot of bother against the experienced winger when he was booked for the first tackle he made on him. Ellison continued to get the better of the right back. He should have scored for Chester early in the second half but he became their match winner by setting up their first and calmly scoring the winner.

Attendance: 3243

Rochdale: Spencer, Ramsden, Kennedy, Crooks, McArdle, Jones, Perkins, Muirhead (Thompson 62), Rundle (Prendergast 62), Le Fondre, Murray (Dagnall 76).
Subs not used: Russell, Doolan.

Booked: Ramsden

Chester: Danby, Vaughan, Wilson, Linwood, Butler, Roberts, Grant, Hughes (Rutherford 73), Ellison, Yeo (Holroyd 76), Lowndes (Sandwith 83).
Subs not used: Ward, Carol.

Booked: Linwood, Roberts, Grant, Ellison.

Attempts (on target): Rochdale 13 (6) Chester 9 (6)
Freekicks: Rochdale 17 Chester 18
Offside: Rochdale 4 Chester 4
Corners: Rochdale 13 Chester 3

Referee: S Bratt.