Dale defeat in Rose Bowl shoot-out

Oldham captain Chris Swailes is presented with the Rose Bowl by Rochdale Chairman Chris Dunphy and Oldham Chairman Barry Chaytow

Oldham Athletic 0 Rochdale 0 (3-2 pens)

Rochdale’s final game of pre-season ended in defeat as Oldham retained the Rose Bowl on penalties after an uneventful ninety minutes ended in a goalless draw at Boundary Park.

Rochdale seldom troubled Les Pogliacomi in the Oldham goal and the first half in particular, proved to be a disappointing one for Rochdale manager Steve Parkin as his side failed to compile any meaningful attacks and gave the ball away cheaply on more than one occasion.

Rochdale’s slow start may have been understandable with the addition of three new faces to the starting line-up but it shouldn’t have taken them as long as the second half before registering their first meaningful attempt on goal.

The visitors began the game with a back three, with Jon Boardman alongside two triallists, Lee Crooks from Notts County and Tony Vaughan who has been training with the squad for a couple of weeks but unable to take part in any of the pre-season games due to a calf- strain.

Rochdale began the game solidly enough against a busy Oldham outfit but the home side got into their stride quicker than their opponents who laboured throughout the first half. The Oldham midfield proved particularly effective with Neil Wood pulling the strings.

Impressive defending by Crooks kept the Latics at bay on three occasions early in the game as he read the play well to intercept a couple of Oldham long balls and then nicked the ball away from Hall inside the area with the Oldham player about to unleash a shot. Crooks was solid throughout and he impressed Steve Parkin: “He’s big and he’s strong. He had a super game today to say he only came into training with us on Friday and we’ll have another look at him this week.”

Rochdale finally managed to string some passes together with twenty minutes gone but they could not create anything and then did themselves no favours by conceding possession once more. Hall broke away for Oldham and held the ball up before laying it off to strike partner Liddell who found himself in acres of space, only to pick out the Dale fans behind the goal with his shot.

Oldham continued to boss the possession in the wet conditions and even though Dale had five in midfield they could do nothing to counter the slick passing of the Oldham quartet and when former Oldham favourite Cooksey lost the ball in the middle it looked certain that Oldham would open the scoring as Liddle advanced with two of his colleagues for company. The striker ignored his team mates but again couldn’t hit the target as he drilled his low shot wide of the upright.

Rochdale enjoyed more of the play after Alan Goodall, still not fully fit, was forced to come onto the field much earlier than his manager would have liked after Vaughan pulled up with a recurrence of his calf problem. Goodall and Cooksey hit long shots at goal after good build up play but Pogliacomi remained a spectator up to the interval.

Darrel Clarke left the field at half time after a fairly anonymous debut to be replaced by another triallist, Craig Dove, who took up the right midfield position.

Rochdale showed an immediate improvement as they troubled the Latics defence for the first time. With the second half only a minute old, Adam Rundle took the ball on through the middle and laid the ball through for Rickie Lambert but his shot across goal whistled inches past the post.

More substitutions followed, including the introduction of another triallist for Dale, Brian Gilfillan replacing John Doolan.

Oldham tested the Dale keeper with their first meaningful attempt of the half. Gilks could only parry Wood’s venomous long range effort and Steve Parkin must have had his heart in his mouth when Michael Malongo caught the goalkeeper in his attempt to score from the follow up. Thankfully Gilks was ok to continue after a lengthy stoppage.

An even second half continued with a couple of chances for both sides. Dale’s best came after good work by Christie on the by-line and he cut the ball back for Rundle and the winger’s cross just evaded Dove who, not literally, flew in at the far post.

Gilks was then forced into a save at the other end as the game became stretched but both sides continued to give the ball away and even when they could keep it, the end product was poor. Dale’s front men couldn’t keep the ball whilst Oldham sent numerous crosses out of play at the far post.

The final action of a game that tested the patience of both sets of fans was a dodgy moment for Matt Gilks as he flapped at the ball underneath his cross bar after Neil Wood’s free-kick caused problems in the Dale area. The ball fell to Warne from Gilks’ weak punch but his volley was well blocked to ensure that the game ended with the scoreline that it frankly deserved and the Rose Bowl Trophy would be decided by penalty kicks.

Seemingly there is an unwritten rule in world football that dictates that Englishmen can’t take penalties. This shoot-out proved to be no exception as four of the first five kicks were missed, only Chris Swailes managing to register for the home side. Dale pulled it back to 2-2 with four taken after good penalties from Alan Goodall and Chris Dagnall. Eardley scored the Latics final kick and the home side retained the trophy when ex-Oldham man Cooksey had his kick saved.

Steve Parkin spoke after the game about how he was not happy with his players’ use of the ball: “It was a disappointing first half, we had a weakened team due to injuries, but we had enough good players to get the ball down and pass it. When you’ve got the ball you’ve got to use it well, we did that against Man City but today we were awful with the ball, there wasn’t enough players trying to put some passes together

“It was a bit more pleasing in the second half and we created a couple of opportunities and kept the ball better. It was a good workout in terms of fitness but it’s very difficult when you’ve got four or five first team players sat in the stands. We need to try and get these players fit for what is a tough first week of the season for us.

“We need to be better with the ball on a good pitch like we’ve got next week if we’re going to trouble Walsall but I’m sure if the players get their heads on they can do that.”