Rochdale 3 (Atkinson 30, Wiseman 33, Taylor 90) Macclesfield Town 0

Photo: Jon Coluccio

The home side continue their celebrations.

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Three first time goalscorers helped Rochdale to maintain their place at the top of League Two. Will Atkinson, Scott Wiseman and Jason Taylor all hit their first ever goals for the club as Dale comfortably overcame a struggling Macclesfield outfit, who were reduced to ten men in the second half after Shaun Brisley brought down Chris O'Grady when the striker was clean through.

Atkinson fired in from close range after he was expertly found by Chris O'Grady and Wiseman produced a cool finish after the ball broke to him inside the Macclesfield box. Dale toyed with their opponents throughout the second half but did not hit a third until injury time, when Taylor popped up in the box to side foot the ball home.

The visitors had done a good job of frustrating their opponents early on but they lost their way after they were forced into two first half changes due to injuries to Ricky Sappleton and Hamza Bencherif, the second appearing to be a nasty knock on the ankle which forced the midfielder off on a stretcher.

Having gained their two goal cushion the home side pushed for more and Kallum Higginbotham and O'Grady both went close as Rochdale ran rampant towards the end of the half.

Dale were forced to make one change from the side that beat Bradford City on Tuesday. Joe Thompson was taken off with a knock during the second half of that game and the young winger was ruled out, allowing Kallum Higginbotham to make his first start of the season. The home side were boosted by the return to the first team squad of club captain Gary Jones, who took up a place on the bench alongside youth team player Scott Hogan, appearing in the squad for the first time.

The home side started brightly in search of their fourth win in a row, and a couple of half chances came their way early on as Chris O'Grady gathered a loose ball 12 yards out but could not get enough purchase on his shot, and then Will Atkinson took a touch too many after controlling in the box and failed to test John Brain in the Macclesfield goal.

The visitors were not without their own attempts as Nat Brown put a weak header straight at Tom Heaton and then the young goalkeeper did well to hold on to Colin Daniels' deflected free kick.

Rochdale had almost all of the possession and it soon became clear that Macclesfield had arrived at Spotland with the intention of spoiling the game in search of a point or a slender victory. They almost had a lead when Ben Wright's deflected shot travelled inches past the post.

Dale upped their game and a superb turn from O'Grady almost brought the opener as he spun off Paul Morgan and fired in a low cross that was inches from the toe of Chris Dagnall as he slid into the six yard box.

The home side soon got their goal and did not look back. O'Grady hustled Carl Tremarco out of possession wide on the right hand side of the Macclesfield box and the striker had free reign to pick out Will Atkinson on the edge of the six yard box, who fired in for a first goal for the club.

It was another first time goalscorer that doubled Dale's advantage minutes later as Scott Wiseman rampaged forward from full back into the box. Macclesfield looked to have the situation under control but Shaun Brisley's attempted clearance hit Higginbotham and fell for Wiseman to finish calmly across Brain.

The home side continued to dominate and sought more goals before the break. Higginbotham drew an excellent save from Brain as he drilled a shot destined for the top corner. The winger continued to pile pressure on the Macclesfield back line and another shot was scewed just wide. O'Grady had a couple of chances of his own as the defence simply could not get the ball off the powerful striker. Twice he made space but powerful shots did not find their target.

The opening stages of the second half were cagey. Dale looked halfheartedly for more goals but they were safe in their two goal lead and did not over-commit men forward in their search for a third. The defence looked solid and it would take something extra special if Macclesfield were to find a way back into the game.

The majority of the half was played in Macclesfield territory and if the points were not safe already they were when Shaun Brisley received a red card for hauling down O'Grady after Dagnall had put the striker clear. The referee had little choice in the matter with Brisley as the last man.

The remainder played out like a training game as Dale toyed with their opponents. There was chance for Keith Hill to give a debut to Danny Glover and he should have struck a third following a lovely move as O'Grady found an overlapping Tom Kennedy to cross low for Glover, who volleyed straight at Brain.

Dale pushed for a third right to the end. O'Grady fired over when well placed 12 yards out and then forced Brain to turn the ball behind after a blistering shot from the edge of the box. They finally got their third in injury time as Jason Taylor made it a trio of first time goalscorers by producing a slide-rule finish. Ultimately it was a comfortable three points, and another week at the top of the league for Rochdale.

Attendance: 3,003

Rochdale: Heaton, Wiseman, T. Kennedy, Stanton, Dawson, J. Kennedy, Taylor, Atkinson, Higginbotham, O'Grady, Dagnall (Glover 75).
Subs (not used): Taberner, McArdle, Flynn, Toner, Hogan, Jones.

Booked: Stanton, J. Kennedy.

Macclesfield: Brain, Reid, Tremarco, Brisley, Morgan, Bencherif (Bolland 28), Brown, Rooney, Sinclair (Tipton 72), Sappleton (Wright 15), Daniels.
Subs (not used): Veiga, Draper, Wilson, Lowe.

Booked: Tremarco.

Sent Off: Brisley.

Attempts (on target): Rochdale 13 (6) Macclesfield 5 (4)
Free kicks: Rochdale 12 Macclesfield 9
Offside: Rochdale 1 Macclesfield 2
Corners: Rochdale 12 Macclesfield 1

Referee: S. Cook