Rochdale 4 - 1 Wycombe Wanderers

Rochdale recorded just their second win in 11 games as they easily dispatched of Wycombe Wanderers to inch away from the relegation zone in League 2.

Visiting keeper Jordan Archer pulled off two fine saves and Bobby Grant hit the crossbar before Stuart Lewis fired Wycombe into the lead.

Dale hit back with a goal on his home debut for Ian Henderson and an own goal from Michael Harriman from Andrew Tutte’s cross.

George Donnelly fired a late brace to seal a comfortable win.

Dale boss Keith Hill made three changes to the side from last weekend’s defeat at Morecambe. Kevin McIntyre was preferred at left back to Michael Rose with Andrew Tutte recalled ahead of Brian Barry-Murphy. Ritchie Jones was out injured so Joe Thompson started.

It was a very attacking line-up named by the Rochdale manager as he looked to reverse the fortunes of recent games.

From the first whistle Dale made all the running with Wycombe making some desperate last gasp clearances.

Thompson’s intelligent cross from the right caused confusion but the ball squirmed across the face off goal before being cleared.

From the resultant corner, first Tutte and then Gornell were denied by Archer in the Wycombe goal.

The visitors, who had won their last three games, were living a charmed life when Bobby Grant’s 35 yard free-kick cannoned back off the underside of the crossbar, off the keeper and away by the defence.

Rochdale were so much on top that it came as a huge shock when the visitors took the lead, albeit controversially. With Dale defender Shane Cansdell-Sherriff in possession inside his own area there seemed little danger until he was upended by Matt McClure. With everybody except Stuart Lewis expecting the whistle to blow, the midfielder rifled home to break the deadlock; the Dale players remonstrating with referee Phillips but to no avail.

To their credit, Hill’s men didn’t dwell on the setback and were level just three minutes later through home debutant Ian Henderson. When Grant was felled on the left hand edge of the area, Tutte drilled the ball into the area from the free-kick with Henderson on hand to guide home for deserved parity.

Referee Phillips was again angering both sets of supporters with his poor decisions.

Substitute George Donnelly, on for the injured Terry Gornell, handled the ball when Dale were building an attack but the West Sussex official waved play on.

Grant's thunderous drive was heading towards goal but Wycombe skipper Winfield dived in to block with the ball hitting his hands; again no whistle from Phillips.

Inside stoppage time, Dale piled on the pressure.

Donnelly’s quick break away and pass to Grant was well defended by Stewart and Tutte saw his goal-bound effort blocked on the line.

The second half continued in the same vein with Hill’s men pressing forward and they edged in front three minutes after the re-start.

A short corner routine from the left saw Tutte whip a delightful ball into the danger area and getting a deflection off Harriman leaving Archer with no chance.

Wycombe looked rattled and the Dale fans helped un-nerve Archer.

Winfield’s powerful back-pass was sliced out of play by the on loan Tottenham Hotspur keeper and from the corner, Joe Thompson thought he had scored when he beat Archer but saw his shot cleared off the line.

Dale continued their assault and came agonisingly close just before the hour mark but Henderson's shot came back off the bar.

Bobby Grant went close with a close range header as it only seemed a matter of time before Dale extended their lead.

A Wycombe corner was cleared towards the half way line with Henderson beating Stuart Lewis before heading at goal with Donnelly in support. The former Colchester man unselfishly played in Donnelly who made no mistake from inside the area.

Dale made it 4-1 with five minutes to go. Michael Rose’s deep cross was headed home by Donnelly for his second to seal the points.

There was time in the last few seconds for Grant to hit the woodwork again with a wonderful curling effort.

Dale are now eight points clear of the bottom two and full of confidence heading into the York game on Tuesday.

Keith Hill, speaking after the game, said: “It was definitely deserved. That’s the type of performance that I expect and have been searching for and I’m led to believe the players here are capable of achieving. Regardless as how the second half would have gone, I explained to the players at half time that that’s what I expect.

"I hope that is the watershed, I hope that’s not a prelude to what previously happened in the last 18 months where we fix it with a good result and then resort back to type.

"As pleased as I am with today, there’s a tinge of disappointment that we haven’t taken advantage of what I believe is a bad league. I think we have gone back in time; there is a lot of back to front football being played in League 2.

"We’ve probably missed an opportunity in the last seven games in that we have flattered to deceive, not produced and then the almighty crash against Morecambe. That led to a few stern words, a productive week and one unbelievable performance.

"We have to play on the front foot. You have to take the game to the opposition.

"We are still searching for what I consider to be my best team.

"The players were up for the challenge. They know exactly what I want and whether they can carry on producing is entirely upto them. They have the ability; it’s now about continually churning out consistent match performances.

"It was a foul [in the build up to Wycombe’s goal], even Gareth Ainsworth [Wycombe manager] admitted that but they have taken advantage of a bad decision.

"I don’t think the referee should be pleased with his performance and I’m sure the assessors won’t be. I know Gareth’s not, I’m not, the players aren’t and the crowd aren’t stupid. Sometimes the referee’s have to realise the crowd aren’t stupid and know what they are talking about and he should be having a word with himself about his performance and standard of refereeing. He got a lot of things wrong today.

"We started brilliantly and probably should have scored with rebounds but it didn’t deflate us. It could have done but it didn’t.

"Today we were better than them.

"As I said last week, we have got a good team on paper but we have to produce performances on match days.

"I thought Andrew Tutte was excellent today. I’ve asked him to attach himself to me and help him establish himself into a career. He has played well today and he has shown me he can hold down the responsibility of playing central midfield.

"Chris Beech [Youth team manager and also assisting Keith Hill with first team training] has to take credit for the set plays. He’s been working on them with the players and I thought they were effective.”

Attendance: 1979

Rochdale: Lillis, Bennett, Edwards, McIntyre, Kennedy, Cansdell-Sherriff, Tutte, Thompson (Rose 78), Gornell (Donnelly 15), Henderson, Grant
Subs: (not used) Collis, Rafferty, Haworth, Cavanagh, Grimes,

Wycombe: Archer, Winfield, Lewis, Wood, Grant, Dunne, Morgan (Morias 61), Harriman, Stewart, Scowan, McClure (Kuffour 61)
Subs: (not used) Johnson, Andrade, Oli, McCoy, Harrison

Referee: D Phillips
Assistant Referees: M Parry & D Street
Fourth Official: K Mattocks