Brentford 1 - 3 Rochdale

Rochdale got their first League win since being promoted to League One with a convincing 3-1 victory against Brentford despite being reduced to ten men for thirty minutes after midfielder Jason Kennedy was given a second caution for ‘over celebrating’ scoring his first goal in a Dale shirt.

Anthony Elding got the scoring under way after ten minutes and, after Robbie Simpson had levelled for Brentford midway through the first half, Chris O’Grady’s first of the season on the hour mark gave Keith Hill’s men the lead for the second time. Jason Kennedy diverted Andrew Tutte’s right wing cross into the net for Dale’s third but was shown the red card for celebrating with the travelling support behind the goal.

Keith Hill named an unchanged side from the one narrowly defeated by Premier League Birmingham City in the Carling Cup less than 48 hours previous. That meant Josh Thompson still on the bench after impressing as substitute at St Andrew's.

The game was played in baking heat at Griffin Park with temperatures reaching 25c which meant the un-watered pitch made Dale’s usual passing style difficult.

The home side made most of the running in the opening few minutes and almost scored after just six minutes when a Robbie Simpson header from the Bee’s first corner of the game was cleared off the line by Widdowson with Lillis seemingly beaten.

The home side went close again when Charlie MacDonald tried to get on the end of a right wing cross but couldn’t divert the ball goal wards.

Dale started to find their feet and with their first meaningful attack took the lead. On loan Manchester City midfielder Andrew Tutte picked up the ball in the middle and headed towards goal before unleashing a ferocious 35 yard effort that home keeper McCarthy could only parry onto the head of Anthony Elding, who made no mistake when nodding home from 12 yards.

The travelling support were in dream land soon after when a seemingly good goal by Jason Kennedy was  by referee Simon Hooperafter his assistant had flagged Elding offside.

Miles Weston has pace to burn and when he went rampaging down the left flank; Kennedy was late with his challenge. He went into referee Hooper’s notebook, a booking that would later become crucial. 

Brentford seemed shell-shocked but, as the minutes ticked by, they started to take the game to Dale and were level on 18 minutes. Gary Alexander’s cross field pass found the lively Weston on the left who beat Wiseman and pulled the ball back perfectly for Simpson who, on the slide, steered the ball past Lillis to send the sides in at the interval all square.

Early in the second period, Dale were lucky to still have eleven men on the pitch when Marcus Holness was only cautioned having adjudged to have hauled down Toumani Diagouraga when through on goal, although the connection did seem minimal and unintentional.

Dale had their noses in front again on the hour mark. Widdowson and Kennedy were at the heart of a twenty or so passing move on the left corner of the Brentford eighteen yard box. The Dale left back picked out a perfect pass to O’Grady inside the box who dropped his shoulder and fired an unstoppable 18 yard effort beyond the keeper, who got a strong hand to it but just couldn’t keep it out.

Just two minutes later and Hill’s men had a third. Wiseman was again involved as he picked out Tutte down the right who beat Woodman before putting in a stinging cross that Kennedy diverted into the net at the near post for his first Rochdale goal.

The excitement of the goal saw the former Darlington man run towards the travelling fans behind the goal and, although not actually leaving the outskirts of the playing surface, was shown a second yellow card for his exuberant celebrations, and sent for an early bath by referee Hooper. It was a terrible decision by the official and the inquest by the Dale players continued for a few minutes with Captain Gary Jones leading the questions.

The sending off ruined the game as a spectacle. with Dale reverting to a 4-4-1 formation with O’Grady the loan striker. It meant Brentford were allowed to come at Dale but the visitors kept them at arm’s length.

When Brentford did breach the Dale defence, substitute Carl Cort heading was wayward.

The closest the home side came to scoring was when a high ball into the box was missed by Dawson and Lillis and former Dale loanee Nicky Adams, on as a second half sub, drilled the ball across the face of goal but Dawson had recovered and turned the ball wide for a corner.

Rochdale had their first maximum haul for the season and it was thoroughly deserved.

Keith Hil said: “I thought it was an excellent display today off the back of a hard game on Thursday.

"It was a good performance but the result is the important thing. It’s great to get the result whilst still trying to develop the club and the players. We are going to score goals and create opportunities within the system that we are playing. It’s about belief.

“I don’t think Elding got a touch on Kennedy’s shot [referring to the goal ruled out for offside] but he was in the line of the goalkeeper so it was a just decision.

"We did allow them back into the game.

"I thought Scott Wiseman was average in the first half but second half he was stand out for me. He kept Miles Weston quiet by adjusting his game.

"If the referee is sticking to the letter of the law then Jason’s [Kennedy] second booking was probably justified but when you consider he has been at the football club for two years  and that is his first goal after coming to the club as a goal scoring midfield player he was over the moon. He gets some stick for not scoring from the lads. He misses Tuesday now in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

"I felt we dug in deep after the sending off. Brentford had some half chances but we withstood that and are really pleased with the victory.

“One of the main things we have always had is fitness, we were one of the fittest teams in League Two and now we have stepped up a division and our training program is superb. The backroom staff make sure we are in tip top condition.

"We have got another busy schedule with the games Tuesday/Saturday next week. We have to play six of our most played players from this season in the JPT game on Tuesday but we will hopefully be able to rest a few and give games to a few that need to get games under their belts. The demands of the modern game are massive so we need to give certain players a rest.

“I’m not too sure if we have any players coming in before the transfer deadline ends but we may have three or four going out because of the type of players we have got. The vultures are trying to pick the bones out of our squad but the chairman has been superb and won’t accept any bids unless they are right for myself, David Flitcroft and this football club.”

 

Brentford 1-3 Rochdale
Simpson (28) Elding (10)
O’Grady (60)
Kennedy (62)

Sent off: Kennedy – Rochdale (second booking 62)

Att: 4636 (229 from Rochdale)

Rochdale: 
Lillis, Widdowson, Wiseman, Holness, Dawson, Jones (c), Barry-Murphy, Kennedy, Tutte, O’Grady, Elding (Akp-Akpro (82)
Subs (not used): Edwards, Goodall, Redshaw, Done, Josh Thompson, Andre

Brentford: 
McCarthy, O’Connor, Woodman, Bean (Cort 70), Macdonald, Weston, Diagouraga, Osbourne, Simpson, Alexander (Adams 64), Legge.
Subs (not used): Lee, Balkestein, Forster, Spillane, Hunt

Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire)
Assistant refs: E Kaye & P Knight
Fourth official: C Lymer

 

Brentford Cautions: None
Possession: 48%
Attempts (on target): 7
Fouls: 4
Corners: 9


Rochdale Cautions: Kennedy (18+62), Holness (51)
Sent Off: Kennedy (62) Second booking
Possession: 52%
Attempts on target: 4
Fouls: 8
Corners: 4