Out of sorts Rochdale condemned by Johnson strike

Notts County v Rochdale

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Notts County 1 (Johnson 28)
Rochdale 0
Notts County eased their relegation fears with victory over play-off hopefuls Rochdale thanks to Michael Johnson’s tap-in finish.

Johnson capitalised when Ryan Jarvis’ mis-timed shot fell invitingly for the midfielder to fire home six yards out.

The result has caused Rochdale’s playoff ambitions to stall once more. They have won two of their last four games but both victories were followed by defeats. They have now suffered four defeats on their travels; less than a fortnight ago they had lost only twice away from home.

The visitors dominated the second half here but dogged Notts defending and Rochdale’s lack of penetration meant that chances were kept to a premium.

Both sides dominated the half in which the wind was at their backs and Notts could have been further ahead before the half time whistle blew.

All changed in the second period and Rochdale came close to an equaliser when Chris Basham had a shot cleared off the line and in the dying stages Rene Howe’s effort flew inches past the post.

“This is not the sort of game we should be losing, it’s the sort of game where we might accept a 0-0. We had to be more ruthless. We should be at least drawing that game. We’ve now got to be more ruthless in our last ten games.

“We had a lot of possession but we’ve got nothing to show for it. The quality coming into the box wasn’t good. We were throwing the ball into areas rather than picking people out.

“All the best to Notts County. It’s not a great loss to us but it makes the Rotherham game [on Monday] more important. It will be a hard game that we can win but are the players ruthless enough?”

In truth Rochdale did not really look like finding an equaliser despite their domination of the second half. They were full of purpose and good intention but there was a lack of direction to their play. Too often they found themselves in and around the Notts penalty area and made poor decisions; Russell Hoult, in goal, was not tested as much as he should have been.

The visitors began the game brightly, with Rene Howe firing a couple of dangerous crosses into the six yard box, but they were met by Notts defenders rather than Dale attackers. It set the tone for their afternoon, a home defender always seemed to get there first.

Notts grew into the game as the two sides settled into trying to deal with the blustery conditions. The wind favoured Notts in the first half and they took advantage.

Danny Crow should have scored when he beat the offside trap and latched onto a raking Hoult free-kick. Tommy Lee in the Dale goal, an emergency loan signing from Macclesfield at the eleventh hour on Friday night after James Spencer picked up an injury during the week, left his goal line. Crow went for the cool lob over the keeper but sent the ball inches wide.

Crow could have had a first half hat-trick as he sent two further efforts wide but Notts’ endeavour was soon rewarded with the breakthrough.

After taking a corner the ball was fed back out to Wayne Corden. He made his way all too easily into the Dale box and evaded challenges from Tom Kennedy and Rory McArdle before feeding Ryan Jarvis. Jarvis mis-struck his shot but Johnson couldn’t miss when the ball fell for him inside the six-yard box.

Rochdale should have had an undeserved equaliser right on half time. A Chris Basham corner was nodded on by McArdle only for Adam Le Fondre to blaze over the top from just a few yards out.

The wind had clearly played a part in Notts’ first half joy because Rochdale dominated the game when it was at their backs.

The search for the equaliser intensified as the game wore on but Hoult was never truly tested. He was beaten twice, once by Basham, but Johnson added to his goalscoring exploits with some defensive heroics by clearing the ball of the line, and then Howe, as he fired inches wide of the upright with Hoult rooted to the spot.

Attendance: 4,030

Notts County: Hoult, Tann, Edwards (Canoville 46), Johnson (Parkinson 82), Mayo, Smith, Silk, Butcher, Corden, Crow (Lee 73), Jarvis.
Subs not used: MacKenzie, Weir-Daley.

Booked: Edwards.

Rochdale: Lee, Ramsden, Stanton, McArdle, Kennedy, Basham (Thompson 84), Jones, Perkins, Rundle (Muirhead 84), Le Fondre, Howe.
Subs not used: Rigby, Doolan, Holness.

Booked: Kennedy.

Attempts (on target): Notts Co 8 (2) Rochdale 8 (2)
Freekicks: Notts Co 17 Rochdale 20
Offside: Notts Co 5 Rochdale 0
Corners: Notts Co 3 Rochdale 8

Referee: R. Lee.