Rochdale 4 (Thompson 17, Dagnall 20, 41, 90) Grimsby 1 (Chambers 43)

Photo: Jon Coluccio

Rochdale v Grimsby - Saturday 27 March 2010

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Chris Dagnall's hat trick secured a third win in a row for Rochdale and another three points in the promotion charge. Notts County also won to leave Dale ten points clear at the top of the league, although the Magpies have a game in hand.

Dale led comfortably at the break thanks to Joe Thompson's header and two fine finishes from Dagnall. Ashley Chambers' close range just before half time gave the visitors hope and for a while in the second half they looked capable a getting another to drag themselves right back into it. But Dale saw out the final 15 minutes in a professional manner and Dagnall grabbed his third in the final minute.

The home side began brightly and Joe Thompson got his head to two early corners. The first presented the better chance as he got ahead of his marker but did not make firm enough contact and could only glance the ball off a Grimsby player and behind. He rose highest from the resulting set piece but put the header well over the top.

Grimsby settled but Dale went up a gear to create the clearest of the early chances. Gary Jones drove in from the left touchline and advanced to the edge of the box before putting in Chris Dagnall. The striker turned to shoot but Nick Colgan was out of his goal quickly to block the shot at Dagnall's feet.

Wonderful work from Ciaran Toner gave Dale the opening goal. The returning midfielder had nowhere to go when he collected a corner with his back to goal near the touchline but a sharp turn and an inch perfect cross later and Dale were ahead. Thompson rose to supply the finish that the cross deserved.

For five minutes the Grimsby defence fell to pieces and the home side added a second. A high ball upfield looked harmless but Jude Stirling let it bounce on the edge of his own box and in the end he could only get a weak header to Dagnall, who lurked to produce a fine finish low into the bottom corner.

A shell shocked Grimsby grew back into the game after the second goal, and at times looked dangerous from the long throws of Stirling and a couple of set pieces but the only time Frank Fielding was called into action was to gather a tame Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro effort.

When the Dagnall and Chris O'Grady partnership clicked for the first time on the afternoon the home side made it three. O'Grady gathered the ball with his back to goal on the edge of the box and rolled a delightful pass for Dagnall, who finished low across Colgan.

Dale would hope to maintain their comfortable lead going into the break but conceded a sloppy goal. A needless free kick was given away from which Grimsby could load the box and when Akpa Akpro nodded the ball back across goal, Ashley Chambers was on hand to finish two yards out.

The goal gave Grimsby hope but Dale looked capable of scoring any time they went near the Grimsby box. Dagnall could have had his hat trick just before the half was out when he took advantage of a gaping hole in the visitor's backline to latch onto to Tom Kennedy's through ball. The ball got slightly away from the striker and he could only finish tamely into the hands of Colgan.

The visitors were by no means dead a buried and early half chances for Akpa Akpro, an overhead kick well over the bar, and a speculative drive from Lee Peacock narrowly over the top, served as warning signs for the Dale defence.

At the other end the home side struggled to get going in the second period but there were always chances to be had given the suspect nature of the Grimsby defence. O'Grady twice missed his kick after being gifted the ball inside the box by a Grimsby ricochet and then sought a penalty when he went down under pressure from Stirling and Peter Bore. The referee gave a free kick the other way and booked O'Grady for diving.

Dale were not quite at the races in the second half and although it would be harsh to say that their lead came under considerable pressure, there was a twenty minute period in which Grimsby created one or two chances, the best of which came when Akpa Akpro played in Michael Coulson. The striker steadied himself but Fielding flew out of his goal to block the shot.

The home side heeded the warning signs and settled in to see the match out comfortably in the end. The majority of the final ten minutes were played out in the Grimsby half and there was even an opportunity for Dagnall to put a gloss on the score line and secure his hat trick. Kallum Higginbotham gathered the ball on the edge of the box and his pass bounced up kindly for Dagnall, who rolled the ball into the bottom corner.

Rochdale: Fielding, Wiseman, T. Kennedy, Stanton, McArdle, J. Kennedy, Jones, Toner, Thompson, O'Grady (Higginbotham 79), Dagnall.
Subs (not used): Arthur, Dawson, Flynn, Obadeyi, Holness, Haworth.

Booked: O'Grady.

Grimsby: Colgan, Bore, Atkinson, Widdowson, Sweeney, Sinclair (Hudson 62), Stirling (Lancashire 74), Coulson, Akpa Akpro, Peacock, Chambers (Proudlock 69).
Subs (not used): Overton, Leary, Wood, Jarman.

Booked: Atkinson.

Attempts (on target): Rochdale 17 (8) Grimsby 9 (3)
Free kicks: Rochdale 12 Grimsby 12
Offside: Rochdale 5 Grimsby 1
Corners: Rochdale 5 Grimsby 2

Referee: F. Graham.