Lincoln 1 (Herd 23) Rochdale 3 (O'Grady 36, Dawson 45, Thompson 59)

Photo: Jon Coluccio

Dawson wheels away after putting Dale in front.

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Rochdale comfortably came from behind to record a fifth win a row and extend a lead at the top of the league that they are guaranteed to keep until after Christmas.

Dale turned the first half on its head as goals from Chris O'Grady and Craig Dawson saw the visitors overcome Chris Herd's breakaway strike for Lincoln.

A third goal on the hour killed the game as Joe Thompson rolled in Chris Dagnall's low cross.

Dale dominated the football throughout but fell behind to an excellently worked counter attack from Lincoln, which resulted in Herd drilling the ball low into the bottom corner. The visitors hit back and were ahead before the break as O'Grady rifled a shot into the top corner and Dawson powered in a header.

The second half offered much of the same against Lincoln's strugglers and Thompson's tap-in completely took the life out of the encounter.

It was a quiet opening 15 minutes to the game with the visitors enjoying the majority of the possession without creating anything clear cut. Good crosses from Tom Kennedy and Joe Thompson came within an inch of reaching a poaching O'Grady but there was good defending from Lincoln to clear the danger.

From an early stage it looked as though it would be afternoon of cat and mouse for Dale, passing the ball around looking for the key that would unlock a Lincoln door that looked solid. Their task did not get any easier when the home side scored from a classic counter attack 23 minutes in. Lincoln cleared a free kick and Eric Lichaj broke at pace from deep inside his own half. The right full-back travelled all the way to the left hand edge of the Dale box before laying the ball inside for the barnstorming run of Chris Herd, who finished convincingly across Tom Heaton.

Dale responded by continuing to enjoy all of the ball and they hit a fine goal of their own to equalise. Scott Wiseman burst down the outside right channel following patient Dale build-up play and he cut the ball back for O'Grady, who struck a deadly finish into the top corner from eight yards out.

The visitors dominated the remainder of the half and came close to going ahead just before the break as Thompson hit a wonderful looping header from fully 14 yards out that was destined for the top corner before Rob Burch turned it over. From the resulting corner Dale got the goal that Thompson's effort had deserved as Dawson powered into the six yard box to head home.

The second half played out much like the first and Dale's third killed the game. Tom Kennedy's quick thinking caught the Lincoln defence napping as he found Dagnall on the right with a sharply taken free kick. The striker set off for goal at pace and rifled the ball across the six yard box to present Thompson with a simple tap-in.

For the remaining half hour it was a training exercise for the visitors. They did not seem too concerned about going for more goals and were happy to tease and torment the home side by keeping the ball and ensuring that Heaton was a virtual spectator in the Dale goal.

Lincoln seldom threatened the unlikeliest of comebacks, although with 12 minutes left Nathan Baker should have done better than to put a free header over the top.

Dale ventured for a late fourth in what was becoming the Chris O'Grady show and he almost scored a wonder goal with ten minutes to play as he spun his man twenty yards out and rifled a thunderbolt that pinged the top of the crossbar on its way over the top.

Attendance: 3293.

Lincoln: Burch, Hughton, Swaibu, Watts, Baker, Kerr (Brown 61), Clarke (Oakes 60), Lichaj, Herd, Clarke (John-Lewis 46), Facey.
Subs (not used): Kovacs, Fagan, Gordon, Musselwhite.

Booked: Lichaj, Hughton, Herd.

Rochdale: Heaton, Wiseman, T. Kennedy, Dawson, Stanton, Atkinson, J. Kennedy, Taylor, Thompson, Dagnall (Higginbotham 81), O'Grady.
Subs (not used): Toner, Jones, Glover, McArdle, Flynn, Taberner.

Attempts (on target): Lincoln 5 (2) Rochdale 14 (6)
Free kicks: Lincoln 10 Rochdale 20
Offside: Lincoln 0 Rochdale 1
Corners: Lincoln 4 Rochdale 4