Cheltenham Town 1 (Townsend) Rochdale 4 (O'Grady 3, Dawson))

Photo: Jon Coluccio

Dagnall celebrates with O'Grady after his second goal doubles Dale's lead.

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Chris O'Grady's hat-trick helped Rochdale thump Cheltenham and extend their lead at the top of league two to nine points.

O'Grady's tidy finish early in the first half put Dale ahead at the break and they went through the gears in the second as O'Grady tapped in and Craig Dawson bundled the ball home to put the game to bed with less than an hour played.

Michael Townsend pounced on Josh Low's blocked shot to give the home fans something to cheer, but Rochdale simply went up the other end a minute later and O'Grady sealed his hat-trick with a deflected shot.

Both sides had chances in a lively opening half. Chris Dagnall could have extended Dale's lead with a volley from eight yards but Cheltenham offered enough to suggest they could get something from the encounter in the second half.

Rochdale were forced into a quickfire change to their starting line-up as Will Buckley, due to start his first game for the club since the end of November, was reportedly injured in the warm up and new winger Andy Haworth, signed on loan from Blackburn in midweek, came in to make an early debut.

Cheltenham had the first clear chance of the game as Julian Alsop provided a lovely inside ball for Josh Low to latch onto and attack the Dale box. Tom Kennedy got half a tackle in on the winger but he was still able to find David Hutton, who should have hit a shot first time rather than take a woeful touch and allow Rochdale to clear.

It took a while for the visitors to get into their stride but youngster Howarth showed his Premier League calibre with a mazy run from deep into the Cheltenham box before curling a shot that had Scott Brown beaten all ends up but came off the inside of the post.

A minute later the league leaders had the lead. Chris Dagnall burst into the box and fed O'Grady and the striker turned onto his left foot and fired a low finish beyond Brown.

The goal gave Dale a clear burst of confidence and Haworth was nearly in on the act again when he collected O'Grady's pass inside the box and beat a couple of men before firing a shot at Brown from a tight angle.

Cheltenham certainly weren't out of it by this stage and in Josh Low and David Hutton they had two lively players capable of opening Rochdale up. A warning shot was fired Dale's way when Hutton won a free kick on the edge of the box from which Danny Andrew fired just over the top.

Rochdale's forward line continued to link up well and Dagnall came close to making it two but for an excellent last ditch tackle from Michael Townsend to take the ball off the striker's foot. A minute later Brown saved well to deny Dagnall as the top scorer volleyed Joe Thompson's nudge first time, it looked a certain goal and Brown did well to intervene.

Into the second half and within 15 minutes of the re-start the game was over. Debutant Haworth caused Cheltenham problems all afternoon and when Brown could only tip his wicked cross onto the crossbar, O'Grady was on hand to double Dale's lead.

Two soon became three and the points were sealed when Dagnall flicked on Tom Kennedy's free kick and Dawson arrived at the back post to bundle the ball home and score his tenth goal of the season.

From then it was men against boys and Cheltenham had Brown to thank for keeping the scoreline respectable as he denied Haworth, Dagnall and O'Grady twice as the man signed on loan from Oldham last week sought his hat-trick.

Cheltenham cheered Townsend's consolation and roared their side on for an unlikely second but they were soon heading for the exits when Dale broke and O'Grady drove 40 yards into the box before his finish took a deflection to wrong foot Brown and give the 23-year-old his hat-trick.

Cheltenham: Brown, Townsend, Gallinagh, Richards, Hutton, Low, Pipe, Andrew, Thornhill, Labadie, Alsop.
Subs (not used): Bird, Diallo, Pook, Hammond, Puddy, Lewis, Hayles.

Booked: Townsend.

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

Attempts (on target): Cheltenham 2 (1) Rochdale 4 (2)
Freekicks: Cheltenham 4 Rochdale 5
Offside: Cheltenham 1 Rochdale 0
Corners: Cheltenham 3 Rochdale 5