Aldershot 1 (Soares 87) Rochdale 1 (Dagnall 74)

Rochdale finally began 2010 by extending their unbeaten run to nine matches. Chris Dagnall's wonderful goal should have been enough to give them all three points but Louie Soares struck a leveller with just three minutes to play and the league leaders had to settle for a point and an extension of their lead at the top to six.

Dale played the better football but Aldershot were made of stern stuff and although Dagnall should have wrapped the game up with eight minutes to go, the Shots huffed and puffed to the end and got an equaliser that they just about deserved.

On another night the league leaders would have sneaked the 1-0 win, and in truth no-one could have begrudged them that here, but with Rotherham losing and Bournemouth not in action, this was by no means a result to be too disappointed about

Both sides were slow to start, perhaps not surprising given that this was their first football of the year, with the ball spending little time on the deck in the opening quarter of an hour. Still there were some early chances as Chris O'Grady, in his first proper act as a fully fledged Rochdale player, forced Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz to turn an angled drive over the top. At the other end John Grant stole a yard inside the Dale box but could only blaze high and wide.

The game swung from side to side in entertaining fashion until Dale started to exert themselves in and around the Aldershot box. Joe Thompson and Adam Rundle began to get the better of their full backs and fire in some decent low crosses while Chris Dagnall and O'Grady again forced decent saves from Jaimez-Ruiz with well struck shots from inside the Shots' box.

Dagnall got a second sighter on half an hour as he was released via a lovely one-two with O'Grady. Dale's top scorer chose to shoot early and fired just wide of Jaimez-Ruiz's far post.

The visitors were never able to fully dominate the opening half and although they looked the more likely of the sides to open the scoring they didn't quite do enough to deserve a half-time lead. The Aldershot back-line seemed determined to give them one just before the whistle however, as defender after defender squandered a chance to clear as Dale countered. Adam Rundle was allowed to beat three men before the ball was finally played out for a corner.

The second half began much like the first although the opening stages did see Tom Heaton make his first meaningful save of the night as he got down low to keep hold of Scott Donnelly's well hit effort, doing well under pressure from preying strikers.

The shots had introduced Marvin Morgan and Ben Harding from the bench at the break and although Morgan can trap a ball further than most men can kick one the rangy striker added to Aldershot's artillery with his height. He soon put a header on target, which was comfortable enough for Heaton, but Aldershot were now causing much more of a threat.

Heaton did brilliantly to keep out Grant's near post attempt after the striker had got the wrong side of Nathan Stanton and then Kallum Higginbotham, on for Rundle, cleared the header from the resulting corner off the line.

Dale did not pose much of an attacking threat in the early parts of the second half but O'Grady came close with a free header from a corner, just wide, and then again from a rasping drive that rose over the top.

Without really looking like getting a goal Rochdale came up with that bit of magic needed to get one. The situation looked impossibly tight on the edge of the Aldershot box but O'Grady layed the ball into the feet of Dagnall, who produced a divine turn to get clear of his man and clip the ball over the onrushing Jaimez-Ruiz.

Dagnall should have put the game to bed when he was released by Higginbotham but his touch deserted him and the ball ran through to Jaimez-Ruiz. Dale and Dagnall would live to rue the miss.

The visitors still looked to have it won with Aldershot running out of ideas but Louie Soares pounced with three minutes to play, latching onto Morgan's chest down into the six yard box. Scott Wiseman looked to have done enough with a last ditch tackle but Soares put his body on the line to earn his side a point. 

Attendance: 2453

Aldershot: Jaimez-Ruiz, Herd, Stracker (Morgan 46), Blackburn, Charles, Soares, Chalmers (Harding 46), Grant, Donnelly, Jackson (Bozanic 81), Sandell.
Subs (not used): Masters, Hylton, Winfield, Hudson.

Rochdale: Heaton, Wiseman, T. Kennedy, Stanton, Dawson, J. Kennedy, Taylor, Rundle (Higginbotham 60), Thompson, O'Grady, Dagnall.
Subs (not used): Arthur, Flynn, McArdle, Toner, Jones.

Attempts (on target): Aldershot 8 (6) Rochdale 8 (6)
Free kicks: Aldershot 15 Rochdale 8
Offside: Aldershot 2 Rochdale 4
Corners: Aldershot 4 Rochdale 4

Referee: P. Taylor.