Port Vale 2 - 1 Rochdale

Rochdale went out of the Johnstone Paint Trophy at the first hurdle after going down 2-1 at League Two Port Vale.

Matt Done scored his first goal in a Dale shirt but it wasn’t enough to put Keith Hill’s side through to the next round as former Dale striker Marc Richards and his namesake Justin Richards both netted either side of half time.

The Dale boss named a much changed team for his side’s third game in six days. He made six changes to the side that beat Brentford on Saturday, with club Captain Gary Jones and striker Chris O’Grady given the evening off. Also missing from the squad was Craig Dawson after his big money move to Premier League side West Bromwich Albion was completed today. Jason Kennedy was serving his one match suspension following his sending off at the weekend. Coming into the side were Alan Goodall, loan signing from Celtic Josh Thompson, Matt Done, Joe Thompson, Jack Redshaw and Jean Louis Akpa-Akpro.

Rochdale’s makeshift team started brightly and the opening 20 minutes or so belonged to Keith Hill's side with Matt Done the stand out of the fringe players on show. The former Wrexham man was at the heart of everything good about the visitors and his pace and trickery caused problems for the League Two side.

The first real attack came Dale’s way after good work by Done found Elding who in turn laid the ball off but Akpa-Akpro fired over from the edge of the box.

The next chance again fell Dale’s way after Done was upended 28 yards from the home goal. Jack Redshaw saw his vicious free kick deflect up off the wall and out for a corner.

Rochdale came very close to breaking the deadlock just seconds later but Done was denied what looked like a certain goal by Chris Martin in the Vale goal. His stinging drive was destined for the top corner until the stopper flung himself high to make a great save.

It only seemed a matter of time before Hill’s men would take the lead and both Elding and Josh Thompson went close with headers. Firstly great control by Akpa-Akpro to feed Done down the right resulted in a whipped cross which Elding glanced wide although the Dale striker appeared to be a long way offside. Next Thompson tried his luck from a Barry-Murphy free-kick but headed over from close range.

The home side had managed to withstand the Dale onslaught and grew in confidence at keeping the League One side out.

Vale’s first real chance came on 24 minutes when the Rochdale defence didn’t really clear their lines and when the ball hit Josh Thompson on the thigh, it broke to Marc Richards on the edge of the box but his effort whisked over.

One of Micky Adams’ side’s main threats came on the counter attack with Reading's on loan Abdulai Bell Baggie causing no end of problems with his pace and skill. The striker made light work of racing up field before squaring to Lee Collins but the full back’s stinging drive was tipped wide by Lillis.

That should have acted as a warning shot to Dale as within 60 seconds the hosts had taken the lead.

Marc Richards did well on the edge of the box before dumping Goodall on the Vale Park pitch and unleashing a low drive across the face of Lillis and inside the far post for 1-0.

It was tough luck on Hill’s men as they had done most of the running up until that point but found themselves behind.

Hill’s men rallied in the closing minutes of the half.

Done made space in the centre and played a delightful ball into space for Wiseman to race onto crossing for Joe Thompson but the Dale youngsters header was deflected wide.

Alan Goodall showed defenders can have skill in first half stoppage time when he flicked up a Barry-Murphy pass with his right foot before hitting a dipping first time volley that Martin easily saved.

Keith Hill made a double change at the interval with the ineffective Redshaw replaced by Helio Andre whilst Barry-Murphy was given a rest with on loan Manchester City midfielder Andrew Tutte coming on.

The changes seemed to spark new life into Rochdale and as with the first half, they made most of the running.

Done saw a curling effort saved whilst Elding’s snap shot from 20 yards was superbly tipped over by Martin.

As Dale pushed for the equaliser, they were left exposed at the back and Marc Richards should have netted his second on 66 minutes. Tommy Fraser played a perfectly weighted through ball to Richards who beat the offside trap but fired horribly over from well inside the box.

Again Dale didn’t heed the warning and moments later found themselves two down.

Full Back Lee Collins did well down the left before squaring a perfect ball to Justin Richards who made no mistake from 16 yards to double their advantage.

The home side were enjoying the evening and started to showboat a little with the home fans enjoying the passing game on show by their players. A 20 pass move saw Roberts’ shot blocked by Goodall which looked destined for the net.

Just as the game looked up for Rochdale, Matt Done gave the travelling faithful hope with 11 minutes left. A Tutte corner from the left wasn’t convincingly cleared by the home defence and when Done saw the loose ball, he slammed a low drive beyond Martin to half the deficit.

The visitors threw everything at their hosts in the closing stages and came close to a leveller when Goodall’s chipped ball into the box found Joe Thompson but he saw his turn and shot ricochet of the cross bar whilst Done’s late strike took a wicked deflection but went the wrong side of Martin’s right hand upright.

Josh Lillis was called into late action when Robert’s stung the hands of the on loan keeper with sub Sean Rigg’s follow up being blocked also.

Keith Hill said: “I wanted to make more changes to the side tonight but the competition rules state that I can’t, which is sad really when you consider we played Thursday/Saturday. I should be allowed to pick the side that I want to pick to give the squad players a little bit more exposure. I won’t apologise for the team I picked, I wanted to give the other lads a chance. Some worked, some didn’t.

"I felt we gave two needless goals away but we huffed and puffed and could have equalised but we didn’t and we got beat.

"Considering the games we have had and will have, if there was a game I was prepared to lose, then it would have been this one. I put out a strong side out considering the squad size we have got, players do need resting”

“People think footballers are pampered and that they should be able to play every day but that is not feasible. It takes some hard miles to play winning football.

"Tonight I thought we played some good football but not winning football and that’s the balance we have got to get.

"Scott Wiseman is the only player to have played all the last three games as well as the goalkeeper and if I would have had the opportunity I would have rested Scott too.

“I think the Craig Dawson deal is unbelievable business, it’s the perfect solution to a lot of the summer's problems.

"Craig Dawson has a burning ambition to play as high up the football pyramid as he can. He realises he is still work in progress but when the bigger clubs come calling its hard to stand in the way of players. It’s a wrestling match at times as a manger and a chairman.

"When we discovered him two and a half years ago, we invested money in him. People suggested it was too much money at the time but we have worked on developing that investment and we are now reaping the rewards.

"People have got to be patient and remember he signed a two year deal in December so we have been more than complimentary to Craig and he has repaid us.

"He has been very patient; it’s not put him off his football in his pursuit of playing at a higher level. He has got his dream move but the dream move was only a consideration from a footballing aspect that we got him for the remainder of the season so it’s a win/win. We win as we get to keep Craig Dawson and he has won as he has got the chance to play in the Premier League in 12 months time.

"The financial rewards for him are far more than we could ever dream of paying him.

"The transfer fee we have received is a very good deal for the club. We waited and waited; his transfer value could have gone up but we realise it could also have gone down. We all know footballers could get injured or suffer a lack of form and then they lose value.

“We have got the opportunity to bring loan players in but they have to be right for our squad. If we contact other clubs they want their players to be playing and I cannot disrespect my players by bringing somebody straight into the side. I need to know that they want to be squad players and work hard to get a start.

"The way we have handled Andrew Tutte has been superb. He came in for over two weeks before he stepped onto a football pitch. He’s learnt about us, he has got the other players respect and he respects them and now he’s playing.

"Other clubs need to learn that it isn’t just about playing but about their education and we offer them a great football education.”

 

Johnstone Paint Trophy first round
Port Vale 2-1 Rochdale
M Richards(27) Done (79)
J Richards(70)

Att: 2442 (136 from Rochdale)

Rochdale: 
Lillis, Wiseman, Holness(c) (Widdowson 60), Josh Thompson, Goodall, Joe Thompson, Barry-Murphy (Tutte 46), Done, Elding, Redshaw (Andre 46), Akpa-Akpro.
Subs (not used): Edwards, Gray

Port Vale: Martin, Yates, Griffith (Taylor 77), Owen, M Richards (Rigg 74), Fraser, J Richards (Dodds 74), Collins, Sutton, Roberts, Bell Baggie.
Subs (not used): Tomlinson, McCombe

Referee: M Taylor
Assistant referees: N Hobbis & P Marsden
Fourth official: A Scregg

 

Port Vale Cautions: 0
Possession: 47%
Attempts on target: 7
Fouls: 6
Corners: 3


Rochdale Cautions: 0
Possession: 53%
Attempts (on target): 6
Fouls: 6
Corners: 14