Cheltenham Town 0-0 Rochdale

Keith Hill’s first game in charge since returning as manager ended in a hard fought 0-0 draw away at promotion chasing Cheltenham. 

Played in awful weather conditions, driving rain and a swirling wind, pretty football was never on the cards as both teams tried to play the best they could.

Bobby Grant and Ashley Grimes came close for Dale but a superb Josh Lillis save in the second half sealed a point that ends a run of three straight defeats for the Spotland outfit.

The returning Dale boss only had three days to work with his new charges and made two changes from John Coleman’s last game in charge down at Dagenham. Joe Rafferty returned after suspension whilst Jason Kennedy was preferred in midfield ahead of Brian Barry-Murphy.

The game only went ahead after an afternoon pitch inspection at Whaddon Road after the cold snap left the playing surface covered in snow. Once cleared, the referee Mr Lewis gave the go ahead and to be fair the surface was in excellent condition.

With a strong wind behind their backs, the first half was all Rochdale with Cheltenham failing to register a shot on goal in the first half.

Grimes found space but placed his shot just wide of the post whilst Grant forced Brown into a good stop minutes later.

Tutte fired over with an angled drive in a mostly uninspiring first half.

The second half was a more even affair with Cheltenham having the wind advantage but Dale played the counter attacking game very well.

Sido Jombati should have done better straight after the re-start but glanced wide.

One of Dale’s main attacking threats, Terry Gornell, had to go off injured after 55 minutes with Dele Adebola taking his place.

Cheltenham’s best chance came with 23 minutes remaining. A deep free kick was flicked on towards Lowe but he was denied by Lillis who was quick to close down the angle and saved brilliantly with one hand.

Cheltenham used the wind assistance well and bombarded the Dale goal with a succession of corners. A short corner routine saw the ball crash off the cross bar but a linesman’s flag stopped any chance from the rebound.

Skipper Peter Cavanagh saw his shot deflect just wide in the closest Dale got to snatching a winner.

Despite severe weather warnings in the North West, 124 hardy Rochdale supporters braved the cold to welcome the returning Hill and were rewarded with a gritty performance by their team.

Hill has promised new personnel to bolster his side before Saturday’s visit by Chesterfield, as with 17 games remaining, Dale are still in with a shout of reaching the top seven come May.

Keith Hill spoke afterwards: “It’s certainly a point gained.

"We’ve been working on discipline and the structure of the side and I think that was evident tonight.

"It was an horrendous evening to play a football match and a great test of character. It was great start to see what character the players got.

"We deserved a clean sheet and that’s what success is based upon.

We’ve only had two days to work with the players and they have been given a lot of information but they listened and implemented what I wanted.

"I have listened to Chris Beech and Tony Ellis about the squad but I wanted to come in with no preconceived judgments on players. You want to come in with a clean slate.

"The real problem for me today was not knowing the opposition. I couldn’t do my homework with regards to them as I would have liked.

"We have a lot of goal scorers out on the pitch, we’ve got creativity. We need to get the balance right to get our just desserts.

"We defended exceptionally well under pressure.

"The players have got to see as a stimulus the fact I am going to recruit and not see it as a negative. The aim is to bring players in to make the squad more competitive. There may well be changes to that team going into Chesterfield on Saturday.

"Tonight was a test of character but it’s still early in the marriage and I’m not sure who has got control of the remote control at the minute!”


Attendance: 2348 

Rochdale: Lillis, Rafferty, R Bennett, P Edwards, McIntyre, Tutte, Gornell (Adebola 55), Grimes (Howarth 89), Cavanaugh, Kennedy, Grant
Subs: (not used) Smith, Barry-Murphy, Pearson, ByrneDonnelly,

Cheltenham: Brown, Lowe, Jones, Elliott, Pack, Deering (Duffy 66), McGlashan (Taylor 78), Harrad (Goulding 85), Penn, Jombati, Mohamed
Subs: (not used) Roberts, Bennett, McCullough, Hanks

Referee: Mr Rob Lewis
Assistant Referees: Mr A Bennett & Mr A Laver
Fourth Official: Mr S Plane