Rochdale 3 – 0 West Brom

Rochdale cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over West Brom in their last pre-season game on home soil. Ashley Grimes gave Dale the lead on 6 minutes when he out muscled former home favourite Craig Dawson and fired past Luke Daniels. Gary Jones doubled the advantage before the half hour mark from the spot after Jean Louis Akpa Akpro was upended in the area and the Frenchman fired past former Dale loan keeper Daniels near the end to round off the victory.

The Dale boss named a strong starting 11 for the game that saw the return to Spotland of Craig Dawson. Matt Duke got another chance to prove his worth in net with Darby and Widdowson filling the full back roles. Holness and Trotman made up the back 4. The midfield was a ‘diamond’ with Kennedy playing in a holding midfield role. Jones and Tutte played more central and Adams just behind the front two of Akpa-Akpro and Grimes.

West Brom named a rather youthful side with a sprinkling of experience. Craig Dawson lined up in the heart of defence alongside former Blackburn full back Steven Reid. Roman Bednar spearheaded the attack alongside New Zealand international Chris Wood. Sam Mantom was in central midfield and has played games on loan for Oldham and Tranmere.

Gary Jones tested Daniels in the Baggies goal inside 3 minutes when great build up play from the hosts led to Jones drive being tipped over.

Eyre’s men took the lead on 6 minutes when a long punt upfield from Duke caught Downing out and as Dawson tried to make amends for his central defensive partner, Grimes muscled in to slot past Daniels for the opener.

The visitors had a couple of sights at goal but Reid’s long range effort flashed wide whilst a trademark Dawson header from a corner went wide.

Just before the half hour mark and Dale doubled their lead. A raking cross field pass from Trotman was inch perfect for Akpa-Akpro with the Frenchman taking the ball on the chest and heading into the area. With Reid for company, Akpa-Akpro turned smartly with the former Blackburn defender catching his standing leg leading referee Moss to point to the spot. Gary Jones stepped up to smash the ball beyond the dive of Daniels.

Some of the football from Rochdale was a joy to watch as the pass and movement proved too much for the Baggies. The intricate passing game was mixed with long range passing to good effect and when Darby picked out the dangerous Akpa-Akpro but his shot grazed the bar as it flew over.

With no changes for either side at the interval, Dale set about the visitors again from the start of the second half. Nicky Adams’ 22 yard free kick curled into the side netting whilst Grimes picked out Jones in another home attack but the Dale skipper shot into the ground which allowed Daniels to gather.

Craig Dawson was withdrawn from the game on 57 minutes by the West Brom bench to rapturous applause from the Dale faithful. Craig is due to travel to St Mary’s tomorrow and play a part in their game with Southampton.

Just after the hour mark and Dale were laying siege to the Baggies goal. Grimes’ pull back from the bye line resulted in a shot being blocked with huge appeals for handball but the referee gave a corner. From the flag kick, Grimes peeled away from his marker but saw his shot blocked with the ball falling to Akpa-Akpro but Daniels denied him a goal saving with his feet.

It took until the 75th minute for the visitors to test Duke. Keemar Roofe forced Duke into a low saw whilst Roofe’s powerful shot moments later deflected off Wood but Duke managed to readjust and save.

With 11 minutes left on the clock Akpa-Akpro made it 3-0. Tutte delivered a freekick into the area which wasn’t dealt with by West Brom and the sponsor’s man-of-the-match turned well and fired low into the bottom corner.

Late in the game Ashley Grimes, Nicky Adams & Jean Louis Akpa-Akpro were replaced by Jason Jarrett, Joe Thompson and Simon Hackney as the game finished 3-0.

It was a good workout for Steve Eyre’s men as they inch closer to the first game of the season. Next up is Crewe at Gresty Road on Saturday.

Eyre said: “I’m delighted, from the word go I could feel that players were up for this one. I saw it in the dressing room; I saw it in the warm up and I’m very happy.

“Pre-season or not, I think on Saturday we let ourselves down a little bit especially with the goals we conceded but I’m glad we showed more steel about us tonight. That’s pretty much what we are looking for what we got tonight.

“We set out giving the players targets and a clean sheet was the first target. We wanted a passing game and we wanted an end product. The clean sheet will give everybody a lift. We settled down straight from the kickoff and West Brom didn’t have a kick in the first 10 minutes. We have had spells like that in other games but we haven’t scored when we were playing well.

“Ashley Grimes didn’t play in the tour game in Spain and I think that’s almost a goal a game from him since then. He has unbelievable feet and in those positions you back him to score. Jean Louis was a handful all night and all that’s been missing from his performances lately have been a goal so I’m glad he scored and Jonah from the spot deserved that for all of his hard work so far.

“We have another game at Crewe so other players will be given the opportunity to stake a claim for a starting place at Sheffield. Joe (Thompson) has only trained with us twice due to injury and that little cameo at the end was for him and the fans as I know he is a popular person around the ground.

“Chris O’Grady trained yesterday but 20 minutes in he came over and said it (his injured heel) was hurting so we going to take him to see a specialist. He won’t play in the next 7 days or so. We have spoken to Chris about rumours circulating and he has said he is very happy here, he is enjoying the training techniques we have brought to the club and he wants to play football for us at Rochdale Football Club.”

Rochdale: Duke, Widdowson, Holness, Trotman, Darby, Adams, Kennedy, Jones, Tutte, Grimes, Akpa-Akpro.

Subs: Edwards, Wood, Jarrett, Marshall, Twaddle, Thompson, Hackney, Gray.

West Brom: Daniels, Reid, Gayle, O’Neil, Dawson, Downing, Sawyers, Mantom, Bednar, Wood, Roofe.

Subs: D Daniels, Keily, Turton, O’Sullivan, Garmston.