Former Stag secures win against Mansfield

Rochdale 2 (Dagnall 24, Doolan 41)
Mansfield Town 0

Rochdale secured a vital second home win of the season as they defeated Mansfield at Spotland. Ex-Mansfield man John Doolan, on his return to the side following a hamstring injury, made sure of the victory as his first half free kick added to Chris Dagnall’s opener against a visiting side that offered very little to trouble the scoring, their first meaningful attempt not arriving until the closing stages.

Steve Parkin, the Rochdale manager who said after the game that he was feeling an element of pressure coming into the fixture, looked to change things in a bid to improve his side’s woeful home record. “I don’t necessarily feel any pressure in terms of my job but it’s the pressure of not enjoying football when you have lost. You have to keep believing and the belief is something I’ve never lost,” said the Dale boss.

The two changes to the team that went out of the FA Cup in the week proved to be the two most influential players; new loan signing William Moquet, from Championship side Sunderland, put the first goal for Dagnall on a plate and then Doolan sealed the win just before half time.

To say that Mansfield boast one of League Two’s top scorers, he, along with his team mates were mostly awful, turning in a performance that prompted manager Peter Shirtliff to apologise to the travelling fans after the game. The fact that eleven-goal front man Richard Barker did not manage a single chance was largely down to the defensive displays of Rory McArdle, who seemed to win everything, and Nathan Stanton, who cleared up anything that avoided his centre-half partner. That and the fact that the midfielders behind Barker, including Dale’s summer transfer target Matt Hamshaw, proved to be particularly ineffective.

The home side were the better starters and they did not let up until they took a two goal lead into the interval. Rochdale were having joy on the break as Mansfield defended with an overly high line and it seemed only a matter of time before the telling pass was played for the busy Chris Dagnall up front. That telling pass came from Moquet, who had Alex John-Baptiste at sixes and sevens before supplying an inch perfect cross that Dagnall could not fail to head home. The Frenchman showed the home fans what they had been missing with a display as a true winger and Steve Parkin would probably admit that his side’s poor home form was due, in part, to a lack of quality in the wide areas.

Steve Parkin spoke about the influence his new acquisition had on the game: “We had a word with the front men on Friday and told them to be aware that if he gets half yard he’ll put the crosses in and Chris Dagnall took advantage of that with our first goal. His play excites the fans and it excites us on the bench when we see dangerous balls going into the box.”

Rochdale continued to build the pressure. Glen Murray had his header well turned over by Carl Muggleton in the Mansfield goal and Murray was influential in his side’s second as he won the freekick that Doolan spanked through the wall and into the bottom corner for his fourth strike of the season. Parkin said of his influential midfielder, “He enjoys winning, he’s a good lad in the dressing room and we have missed him when he’s not played this season. He has vast amounts of experience and it was the icing on the cake for him to score today.”

The home side were less effective in the second half as they allowed Mansfield into the game by failing to reproduce the football of the first but the visitors were simply not good enough to get back into proceedings. They created the occasional opening but their shooting was woeful and Matthew Gilks in the Rochdale goal watched shots sail high, wide, and not so very handsome, from various angles. Danny Reet and Michael Boulding both blazed over before Boulding came closest to getting Mansfield back into it when his downward header bounced over, via the crossbar.

Rochdale were more likely to seal things at the other as the game turned, somewhat comically, into the Morike Sako show. When the fans and his manager were not berating the six foot seven inch substitute for not winning headers or for a lack of effort, the French striker was missing chances. He had two golden opportunities to score his first goals since last month’s win at Darlington. When Mocquet put him through he hit the legs of the onrushing Muggleton and then, after doing well to beat the last defender, he beat the Mansfield keeper but hit the outside of the post.

Mansfield’s away record, which was as bad as Rochdale’s was at home ahead of this game, told by the fact that the first time Matthew Gilks was called into making a save was in the last minute as he blocked substitute Simon Brown’s last minute. The Stags have now lost their last three league games and their fans, although they sang throughout, had little to cheer.

Every fan and player, and especially manager Steve Parkin, knew that this game was an absolute must win for Rochdale and they rose to the challenge to beat Mansfield. Not that Rochdale were challenged by visitors; turning up and converting a couple of chances was more than enough, the visitors did not seem to bother with the former, never mind the latter. There’s an old saying in football that you can only beat what comes up against you and that would sum up Rochdale’s second home win of the season.

Man of the Match
Chris Dagnall – Worked tirelessly for ninety minutes and epitomised his side’s hard working performance in securing a much-needed win. Rochdale would be looking to their top scorer to help dig them out of their poor run of form and he did not disappoint as he notched his ninth of the season.

Attendance: 2378

Rochdale: Gilks, Brown, McArdle, Stanton, Goodall, Doolan, Jones, Cooksey, Moquet (Clarke 84), Murray (Sako 54), Dagnall.
Subs not used: Ramsden, Crooks, Rundle.

Mansfield: Muggleton, Mullins, Jelleyman, D’Laryea, Hjelde, John-Baptiste, Hamshaw (Lloyd 68), Barker, Boulding, Coke (Buxton 75), Reet (Brown 52).
Subs not used: White, Beardsley.

Booked: Hjelde

Attempts (on target): Rochdale 13 (9) Mansfield 11 (2)
Free kicks: Rochdale 15 Mansfield 22
Offside: Rochdale 3 Mansfield 3
Corners: Rochdale 7 Mansfield 6

Referee: SW Mathieson