Rochdale 1 - 0 Bury

A battling performance by 10 man Rochdale earned a hard fought 1-0 victory over neighbours Bury in the East Lancashire derby at Spotland. Scott Hogan poked home the only goal of the game after Peter Vincenti saw his diving header saved on the line. Vincenti then saw red for a second booking seven minutes before half time. The expected Bury onslaught never really materialised as the Shakers failed to get a single shot on target.

Dale boss Keith Hill named an unchanged side from that which drew with Oxford last week. Skipper Peter Cavanagh returned from a three match ban but missed the game due to an achilles injury. New signing Graham Cummins had to make do with a place on the bench.

Bury came into the game having scored lots of goals with their new look side but it was Dale that looked more likely to score.

Hogan beat the offside trap with his blistering pace but failed to hit the target when it mattered.

Trevor Carson in the Bury goal made a good save after Peter Vincenti broke free from his marker at a corner to head goalwards.

With 10 minutes to go before the interval, Dale took a deserved lead. Vincenti again sent a header at goal and although Carson denied him again, Hogan was on hand to turn the ball home from close range

The main talking point of the game came just three minutes later when Vincenti was sent off for a foul on Andy Proctor. Referee Boyeson deemed Vincenti’s challenge not only a foul but a booking and therefore a red card ensued.

With Dale down to 10 men, the travelling fans may have expected Bury to throw everything at Dale but that never happened.

The second half continued the same although Bury had plenty of possession.

Hogan fired over when well place whilst Donnelly beat two men to make space inside the area but when he tried to pick out Hogan Cameron was on hand to block.

Bury showed very little in front of goal and rarely threatened to breach Lillis’ clean sheet.

A delightful Rose cross was turned over the bar by Edjenguele from inside the six yard box and Donnelly headed over from a corner.

The closest Bury came to scoring came through two former Dale players. Ashley Grimes played a perfect ball to Temitope Obadeyi but the former Bolton man dragged his shot wide.

Dale saw out the remainder of the game unchallenged to net the points and the bragging rights.

Rochdale: Lillis, Bennett, Lancashire (c), O’Connell , Rose, Henderson, Barry-Murphy, Lund, Vincenti, Hogan, Donnelly (Cummins 81)
Subs: (not used) Thomson, Vidal, Bunney, Eastham,

Bury: Carson, Beeley Roberts (c), Edjenguele, Cameron, Proctor, Miller, Jones, Mayor (Obadeyi 63), Forrester (Grimes 72), Jackson (Reindorf 58)
Subs: (Not used) Hinds, Holden, Jensen, Sinnott

Referee: Mr C Boyeson
Assistant Referees: Mr D Benton & Mr P Wright
Fourth Official: Mr P Gooch

Attendance: 5,616