Rochdale 1 - 1 Plymouth

Rochdale stretched their unbeaten run to 5 games after coming from behind to earn a share of the spoils against Plymouth Argyle.

Craig Dawson netted his second of the season, drilling the ball beyond the Pilgrims keeper after a Jason Kennedy centre. Earlier, Bradley Wright-Phillips capitalised on a goalkeeping error after Josh Lillis spilled the ball at the feet of Johnson and laid the ball to Wright-Phillips who fired home.

Rochdale boss Keith Hill named an unchanged side from that which drew with MK Dons last weekend. Celtic loanee Josh Thompson continued at right back in the absence of Scott Wiseman. Dawson, Holness and Widdowson made up the back four. Captain Gary Jones played in the centre of midfield alongside Kennedy and Barry-Murphy. Tutte and Elding were out wide and O’Grady upfront.

The game started in glorious sunshine although the cold wind made coats and hats the order of the day. In a cagey opening period, both sides were probing away trying to get the upper hand in the contest. Dale’s Elding had the games first chance but his shot was deflected high and out for a flag kick.

It was obvious that the visitors main threat was going to come from set pieces and throw ins as in Kari Arnason they had the ‘Rory Delap’ of League One. The home defence struggled to deal with the missile into the box and on 18 minutes were made to pay. One such long throw from the left was aimed towards the 6 yard box. Lillis and Josh Thompson got in each other’s way with the keeper spilling the ball at the feet of Johnson. The tall centre back unselfishly laid the ball back to Wright-Phillips who slid the ball home to open the scoring.

Rochdale tried to fight back almost immediately with Gary Jones at the heart of everything Dale. Hill’s captain marvel almost added to his season goal tally but his dipping effort went agonisingly wide with Larrieu diving despairingly to his right. The Dale keeper had to be on his toes when the Pilgrims Arnason tried his luck from 35 yards which almost caught out Lillis.

Goal mouth action was hard to find up until the final 5 minutes of the half. O’Grady played a perfect ball through to Jones who flashed the ball across goal but Elding couldn’t quite stretch enough to convert the chance. At the other end, a scramble in the box forced some desperate defending from the Dale back-line but they survived until the interval.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first ended. Plymouth created a chance when Bhasera’s left wing cross was left by firstly Holness and then Widdowson but thankfully Wright-Phillips missed his chance when he swung a boot at the ball but missed it completely.

With 10 minutes played of the 2nd period, Hill made a change by bringing on Joe Thompson for Andrew Tutte. The change gave the home side more impetus and urgency. Elding’s neat lay off almost brought about the leveller but Jones’ strike was parried. Rochdale looked the more likely to score with Thompson getting involved and his cross almost found Elding but Larrieu got their ahead of the former Stockport striker. Around the hour mark, Pilgrims manager Peter Reid brought on former Dale youngster Rory Patterson.

On 64 minutes, Hill’s men got their equaliser. A Barry-Murphy corner evaded everyone on the box but found Kennedy out on the right who squared for Dawson whose turn and shot gave the Argyle keeper no chance at all.

Rochdale had the bit between their teeth and sensed they could edge their noses in front and they should have done just 3 minutes later. Jones’ delightful through ball for Kennedy left the midfielder clear but he opted to chip the keeper rather than find a team mate and the ball was cleared before it crossed the line. O’Grady went close but his shot flashed across goal and wide.

As the clock wore down the game became more open and the visitors should have taken the lead with 9 minutes left. Wright-Phillips emerged with the ball after a Dawson challenge down the left but as he bore down on goal opted to shoot when a ball across to Patterson or Noone would almost certainly have resulted in goal number 2, Lillis smothering the danger.

A couple of half chances for the home side followed with new loan signing from Oldham Deane Smalley having a shot blocked whilst Barry-Murphy warmed the hands of Larrieu with a drive from distance.

Deep into stoppage time the visitors almost snatched an undeserved winner when Noone saw his looping header expertly tipped onto the bar and out for a corner.

A draw was probably a fair result in the end and with Huddersfield Town the visitors on Tuesday evening, it will give Hill’s men another opportunity to pit their wits against tough opposition.

Keith Hill said after the game: “It was an opportunity missed today for me. You can call me greedy but we should have won that game today. We played into their tactics first half. They got the goal but again it’s a goal that should have been defended better. We’ve made mistakes from the long throw but once they got the goal they were happy to slow the game down and we helped them do it when we should have been playing quicker football. Passing it and moving. We can’t wait until half time to sort that out because as much as we kept decent possession in the first half, I don’t think there was a lot to show for it. They were quite comfortable in their strategy once they got the goal. If the game had remained 0-0 for longer I think we may have won this game quite comfortably as I though in the second half there was more urgency to the way we played. I thought it was a game we could have won in the second half, they were dangerous from set play’s and throw ins and I thought that was their only chance to score. We had better opportunities to win the game, but we didn’t, and I’m disappointed and the lads know I am disappointed. It was decent performance without the icing on the cake. We have played winning football today but not as much as I expected us to.

“Joe did really well when he came on, Tutte and Elding have done really well in the side so far this season but perhaps that is a tactic away from home. We have got other players on the bench who are ready to come on. I felt the players rolled their sleeves up in the second half and played the type of football, at the pace I expect, against a side that was protecting a 1-0 lead.

“It was a great finish from Craig and I thought it was a tremendous performance from him today, his passing is immaculate.

“I do think it was 2 points dropped today against a good side, with a good manager. Am I asking for too much? That expectancy is there for me now and I think we can challenge and the players are starting to believe it too.”



Rochdale 1-1 Plymouth Argyle
Dawson (64)
Wright- Phillips (18)
Att: 3294

Rochdale:
Lillis, Widdowson, Holness, Dawson, Josh Thompson, Jones(c), Kennedy, Barry-Murphy, Tutte (Joe Thompson 55), Elding (Smalley 62), O'Grady
Subs (not used):Ryan Jones, Done, Akpa-Akpro, Flynn, Goodall

Plymouth:
Larrieu, N’Gala, Fletcher (c), Johnson, Wright-Phillips, Arnason, Bhasera (Bolasie 69), Noone, Paterson (Molyneux 74), Seip, MacLean (Patterson 62)
Subs (not used): Chenoweth, Mason, Stephens, Parrett

Referee: Mr P Quinn
Ass Referees: Mr Salisbury & Mr Akers
4th Official: Mr Haycock

Rochdale
Cautions: Barry-Murphy, Dawson
Possession: 65%
Attempts on target: 6
Fouls: 8
Corners: 7

Plymouth
Cautions: Noone
Possession: 35%
Attempts on target: 9
Fouls: 4
Corners: 7