Yeovil 0 - 1 Rochdale

Rochdale won at Huish Park for the first time with Gary Jones’ 13th of the season early in the game. Jones drilled home from 18 yards after Craig Dawson caused problems in the home defence when Brian Barry-Murphy floated a left wing corner into the area.
Debutant Owain Fon Williams made a match winning save deep into stoppage time as Dale held on for the points.

Rochdale manager Keith Hill made three changes to the side that drew in midweek. New permanent goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams took his place in between the sticks in place of Josh Lillis who has returned to Scunthorpe after having his loan spell cut short. Full back Scott Wiseman returned after serving a 3 match ban whilst Brian Barry-Murphy came back into the midfield at the expense of Will Atkinson. Nicky Adams & Josh Thompson missed the game on Tuesday but returned to the bench.

On a very cold afternoon in Somerset, the game was slow to take off but when it did it was Dale who were the better side. Captain Gary Jones had his curling effort easily saved by Henderson whilst the home stopper had to be alert when a Jones miss-placed cross almost sailed into the net but Henderson tipped it over.

Jones wasn’t to be denied for long though as Barry-Murphy sent the resultant corner over from the left. Dawson made a nuisance of himself in the area and when the ball dropped to Jones just inside the area, he fired a sweet right footed drive through a mêlée of bodies inside the area and into the net for his 13th of the season.

Hill’s side had their tails up and almost doubled their advantage 3 minutes later. Another Barry-Murphy corner was met by Dawson but his looping header was clawed away by Henderson.

The home side showed very little as an attacking threat and Smiths speculative effort from the left corner of the box sailed over whilst Williams fired an angled drive from the left which Fon Williams saved easily.

The second period started with the home team pressing but never really troubling Fon Williams. A succession of right wing free kicks were whipped across the Dale goal but always too strong for the Glovers front line.

Scott Wiseman has been described by Keith Hill as one of the quickest full backs in League One and had to be at full speed early in the second half when Andy Williams and substitute Olie Johnson had chances to level but Wiseman got back to challenge on both occasions.

With the home side putting pressure on, Keith Hill brought on Josh Thompson to shore up the defence and the on loan Celtic man almost put through his own net with his first touch, another Welsh right wing cross was touched on by Thompson but his dipping header thankfully dropped onto the roof of the Dale goal.

For all the pressure that the Glovers put on Dale, Fon Williams was well guarded by the men in front of him. Dawson was solid when centre half Huntington fired a shot towards goal but the block denied him.

Rochdale always look dangerous on the counter attack and when Gary Jones picked up deep in his own half he looked to break away. He ran fully 70 yards but as Joe Thompson made ground on his right, the Dale Captain took a tired looking shot that sailed well over.

The referee added 5 additional minutes at the end which buoyed the home support and the Glovers surged forward. The tricky Andy Welsh drilled a ball from the left which was met first time by Smith but Fon Williams was equal to it and blocked.

It means Hill’s men are still undefeated since the turn of the year and as the players head off for a 3 day training camp in Marbella, Spain; Rochdale sit in 9th – 3 points outside the playoff places.

Keith Hill said: "I thought we were excellent. Towards the end the opposition had nothing to lose so they pushed forward. What’s happening in football today is nobody is giving up on games until the very end so you’re getting a lot of injury time goals. We withstood the pressure; we made good substitutions for the right reasons.

"We defended well, and Fon Williams has made an outstanding save but prior to that I cannot really remember him having that many saves to make. He took a lot of goal kicks and caught a lot of crosses but that’s about all he had to do. The strategy worked, we had some good passages of possession which we possibly should have created more.

"We learnt a lot from the first half of the season and we are taking those experiences into the second part. I’m really pleased for Gary Jones and it came from a set piece, credit to Craig (Dawson) again. He has been a little bit anxious in some of his heading and could do better but Jonah backs him up superbly and it’s another goal for Gary Jones.

"The balance of the team is good and I am pleased with the wins away from home. The Tranmere (home) game; we stuttered to a victory, we have remembered how to win games and remembered what is necessary to convert good performances into victories.

"Fon Williams made a match winning save at the end but that’s what he is there to do. He came into the team cold, not knowing the lads in front of him. Ideally we would have still had Josh Lillis in the side to ease Owain in but that wasn’t to be and I thought he did really well."

With regards to the trip to Spain he said, "I wouldn’t say we are off to sun ourselves as it’s as cold as it is here! But we have got as few tricks up our sleeves; rest and recuperation is the aim. We have learnt a lot from the past few seasons.

"The demands of the game are massive so we have to make sure the lads are rested and ready to go again next week, particularly Gary Jones – I mean what was he doing running all that way; just pass it to Joe Thompson... no he’s doing well he’s certainly a talisman and I’m really pleased for him."

 

Yeovil Town 0 - 1 Rochdale

Att: 3711 

Yeovil Town: Henderson, Huntington, Smith, A Williams (Calver 83), Ayling, S Williams (Johnson 62), Bowditch, Welsh, Ehmer, Upson (Russell 70), Wotton.
Subs (not used): Martin, Virgo, Gibson, Baggridge.

Rochdale: Fon Williams, Widdowson, Dawson, Holness, Wiseman, Jones (c), J Kennedy (Josh Thompson 78), Barry-Murphy, Joe Thompson, Dickinson (Atkinson 53), O'Grady.
Subs (not used): Edwards, Done, Goodall, Adams, Akpa-Akpro.


Referee: Mr Danny McDermid 
Assistant Referees: Mr S Daly & Mr A Nunn 
Fourth official: Mr M Russell