Rochdale 3-2 Chesterfield

Rochdale twice came from behind to earn a place in the second round of the Carling Cup after an extra time defeat of Chesterfield at Spotland. An Ashley Grimes brace and an Dwayne Mattis own goal earned Steve Eyre’s side a place in the hat for the second round draw.

With news breaking 15 minutes before kickoff that star man Chris O’Grady had left Spotland to join fellow League One side Sheffield Wednesday, the mood around the ground was a little sombre.

Dale manager Steve Eyre, in his first game in charge at Spotland, was forced to name one change from the side that lost to Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend. Keeper Jake Kean wasn’t allowed to play as per the terms on his loan agreement from Blackburn Rovers. That meant home debuts for David Lucas, Stephen Darby, Neal Trotman, Ashley Grimes and a second home debut for Andrew Tutte.

The Spireites started the game very brightly and almost opened the scoring inside 2 minutes when a poor back header by Trotman let in Morgan but debutant keeper Lucas was quick off his line to smother. Dales Ashley Grimes showed the home faithful what he has in his locker moments later when he curled a delightful shot just wide of the despairing dive of former Dale keeper Tommy Lee but unfortunately wide of the post too.

John Sheridan’s side also lost on Saturday but it was they who took the lead on 11 minutes. Former Oldham midfielder Danny Whitaker picked up on the edge of the area and side footed beyond Lucas and just inside the right hand post.

That lead lasted 8 minutes with Grimes netting Dale’s first goal of the season. Akpa-Akpro’s surging run down the left looked to be heading nowhere but a neat pull back found Grimes inside the area and he slotted home to level the game.

At times, Eyre’s men played some wonderful football but seemed to lack that cutting edge. Jones, Grimes & Akpa-Akpro saw efforts miss the target or saved by Lee.

The home side started the second half much the better. Kennedy saw a goal line clearance deny him a goal whilst Grimes’ dipping shot scraped the top of the bar.

The best opportunities of the second period fell to Akpa-Akpro but the Frenchman failed when well placed. A perfect Grimes ball over the top saw Jean-Louis bare down on goal but his powerful shot went wide from 8 yards whilst the same pairing linked again – with the same result.

Dale weren’t having everything their own way and Trotman had to be alert when he was caught out for pace but a perfectly times sliding challenge inside the area denied Morgan.

Morgan almost embarrassed Lucas in the Dale goal when his 40 yard free kick was fumbled by the home stopper with the ball hitting the crossbar and dropping 4 yards out but somehow Lucas managed to save at point blank range a follow up by Niven to deny the visitors the lead.

At the other end the save of the match was produced by former Dale hero Tommy Lee. When Ashley Grimes nipped into steal a pass, he raced at goal and with only the keeper to beat, Grimes tried to slot the ball beyond Lee but somehow he managed to stretch and push the ball away.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes of the 90, Dale took the game to their visitors. Marcus Holness saw a vicious drive charged down by Niven whilst the follow up saw Kennedy head just over.

In stoppage time, Chesterfield did have the ball in the net but Jordan Bowery was flagged offside.

With the scores level it was into extra time. Five minutes into the extra period, Chesterfield were awarded a rather dubious penalty. Sub Jack Lester won the spot kick when he tried to turn Holness in the area and the assistant in front of the Wilbutts Lane stand signalled penalty. Danny Whitaker stepped up to smash the ball down the centre of the goal to restore his sides lead.

That lead only lasted 10 minutes and Dale’s second equaliser had more than a hint of luck about it. A sublime pass inside the left fullback by Jones split the defence for Adams and his dangerous cross was diverted home from close range by visiting skipper Mattis.

Joe Thompson, on for Kennedy in extra time, contrived to miss from 2 yards out when Adams cross-come-shot found the head of Thompson but his dive just diverted the ball over.

Just as you thought it wasn’t going to be Dale’s night, up stepped Grimes with the winner. A sweet Adams pass to Widdowson saw the former Grimsby man whip a wonderful cross into the danger area and Grimes was on hand to turn the ball home from close range to send Eyre’s men into round 2.

A delighted Steve Eyre spoke afterwards: “We both played our part in a pulsating Cup tie. We have had to tinker with the team throughout the game to get the win but we have to eliminate mistakes early in games but at least tonight we bounced back.

“We asked for more at half time and I think we showed we really wanted to win and we had the belief in us that it was our night even with the chances we kept missing. Dave Lucas has followed a mistake with a world class save.

“We felt Ashley Grimes was tiring but at the same time we felt he was the best player on the pitch. The frustration was that our chances weren’t falling to Ashley and our hope was that we could stay in the game, not concede and just one chance would fall for him and when it did he deserved his goal as I thought he was outstanding.

“We played with 2 up front with Nicky Adams coming in behind. We are delighted with Jean Louis Akpa-Akpro’s endeavour but when he was presented with 2 good opportunities to score he didn’t hit the target. What a pass between the defence by Gary Jones to allow Adams to cross which led to the second equaliser.

“We asked Nicky at half time, or actually we told him we wanted more from him and he produced, I think he was outstanding tonight for 80 minutes out of 120 but his challenge now is to do it for the whole game. I’m going to enjoy this win tonight. I will play it around in my head 100 times in bed, with no sleep and I will watch it again on DVD. We will then work to try and iron out the mistakes that we made, we are still craving that clean sheet but we are delighted to be in the hat. I’m not going to say who I’d like but any home tie would be good”


Att:1718

Rochdale: Lucas, Darby, Holness, Trotman, Widdowson, Tutte, Kennedy (Thompson 97), Jones (c), Grimes, Adams, Akpa-Akpro
Subs (not used): Edwards, Twaddle, Marshall, Fagbola

Chesterfield: Lee Holden (Lester67), Mattis (c), Downes, Smith, Talbot, Allot, Niven (Clay 112),Whitaker, Morgan, Boden (Bowery 75)
Subs(not used): Fleming, Randall, Darikwa, Gray

Referee: Mr S Mathieson
Ass Ref: Mr B Gordon
Mr G Johnson
4th Official: Mr r Johnson