Dann denies Dale after Ince disaster

Walsall 1 (Dann 90) Rochdale 1 (Ince og 5)

Rochdale looked to have done enough to earn victory at League Two leaders Walsall after a scrappy affair at the Bescot Stadium. It was a much different Rochdale display from the free scoring one against MK Dons last Saturday but it was one that was almost equally as effective. A hard fought and superb defensive performance allowed the visitors to hold an early lead for almost the entire game without goalkeeper Matthew Gilks having to partake in anything but catching practice.

Walsall gave a display that did nothing to belie their status at the top of the league; producing very little football and creating even less in front of goal and as the clock ticked down Dale looked comfortable in seeing out the win but they did not account for Scott Dann, the only Walsall player worthy of credit after an assured defensive display, who showed his team mates at the other end how to do what they had failed miserably to achieve by waltzing past three Dale players on a sixty yard run and finishing low into the bottom corner from twenty yards to take the three points away from the visitors in the third minute of injury time.

Rochdale had lead for nearly ninety minutes after they were gifted the opener by home goalkeeper Clayton Ince. Rochdale won a free kick for handball on the right by-line, Rory Prendergast delivered the ball from the set piece and there appeared to be a simple catch for Ince from the pacy cross only for the keeper to promptly push the ball into his own net.

A Walsall assault was expected but it never materialised and the tenacious, battling display of the visitors meant that the home side never settled and the game never found a rhythm, which suited the visitors perfectly. Gary Jones, showing why he received a two-season contract extension in the week, marshalled things in the middle of the park, whilst Walsall’s strike partnership of Martin Butler and Hector Sam, which looked so dangerous against Dale on the opening day of the season, was nullified by what is becoming an excellent central defensive partnership for Dale in Rory McArdle and Nathan Stanton and the latter has also pledged his immediate future to the club.

Aside from looking confident and assured against a team that should have been capable of so much more but never looked like giving it, Rochdale manager Keith Hill’s only worry arrived when Manchester City loanee Kelvin Etuhu had to be carried from the field on a stretcher after a nasty looking blow to the knee. This was due to be Etuhu’s last game of his loan spell but Hill had been looking to extend his stay at Spotland further during the week, but this injury puts any deal up in the air as early signs suggest the young winger could be out for several weeks.

Walsall finally gave Hill some infrequent worries on the pitch. McArdle was on hand to deny Walsall an equaliser from their best chance of the half when the ball broke to Dean Keates on the left of the Rochdale box, Keates low shot across goal had Gilks beaten but McArdle was on hand to clear the ball off the line. The home fans became increasingly frustrated at their side’s lack of quality as Rochdale continued to out-battle them and play what little good football was on offer with Walsall’s only other clear chance coming when Sam headed over from three yards when Keates’ free-kick may have sailed in anyway.

Home manager Richard Money had made all three substitutions before the hour mark but if anything Walsall were worse in the second half, enjoying more of the ball but doing even less with it with Gilks continuing to watch on and catch the regularly errant crosses that came his way.

Dale looked more likely to double their lead and would have done with better finishing; Adam Le Fondre had Dale’s best chances. He was gifted the ball by home captain Michael Dobson and ran at the last defender but his early shot was gathered by Ince at the second attempt. An even better chance came soon after as Le Fondre raced onto McArdle’s long ball but he drilled his shot straight at Ince from a tight angle rather than putting his shot across the keeper, which might have tested Ince further.

Even so, the three points looked assured without the need for a second with the lack of anything in particular being created by the home side, still Gilks had done nothing when the fourth official announced three minutes of injury time would be played, still Walsall had done nothing with two of them gone; cue Dann snatch and grab a point to break the hearts of the large away following.

Man of the Match
Scott Dann - Excellent performances from Dale’s Stanton, McArdle and Jones would have seen them contend the award but for the quality of Dann’s goal, which deserved to gain the point that his team mates had done nothing to earn. It was not Dann’s only contribution as the 19 year old was on hand on numerous occasions to prevent Dale adding to Ince’s clanger and showed that the fact Walsall have conceded only seven home goals this season might well be down, in large part, to him.

Attendance: 5046

Walsall: Ince, Westwood, Gerrard (Demontagnac 46), Dann, Fox, Wrack (Wright 58), Dobson, Pead, Keates, Butler, Sam (Cederqvist 58).

Subs Not Used: Bossu, Taylor.

Booked: Fox.

Rochdale: Gilks, Ramsden, Stanton, McArdle, Goodall, Etuhu (Rundle 31), Jones, Doolan, Prendergast (Perkins 63), Le Fondre (Reid 81), Murray.

Subs Not Used: Edge, Crooks.

Booked: Etuhu.

Attempts (on target): Walsall 9 (2) Rochdale 11 (4)
Free kicks: Walsall 26 Rochdale 16
Offside: Walsall 4 Rochdale 11
Corners: Walsall 5 Rochdale 3

Referee: R Beeby