Accrington Stanley 1 - 2 Rochdale

Rochdale played the whole of the second half with just 10 men as they held onto a first half 2-1 lead to earn the 3 points against Accrington.

George Donnelly was controversially sent off on the stroke of half time for an innocuous looking challenge with Nicky Hunt. Earlier Matty Lund & Scott Hogan had given Hills men a 2 goal lead but Kayode Odejayi reduced the deficit.

Looking to make it 3 wins in a row, Hill named 3 changes to the side that beat Torquay last week. Rhys Bennett replaced Jav Vidal at right back, Gary Dicker made his debut in place of Brian Barry-Murphy whilst Peter Vincenti returned from suspension in place of Graham Cummins.

Against the side rooted to the bottom of the football league, Dale needed to start brightly and that they did racing into a 2-0 lead after just 13 minutes. A short corner routine from Henderson to Dicker made space and when the ball was rolled to Rose he smashed his left footed drive off the crossbar but Lund was on hand to head home the rebound.

Just 7 minutes later and Dale doubled their advantage. Jack O’Connell sent a wonderful cross towards the back post for Hogan to head back across goal and inside the far post.

Hill’s men looked in cruise control but a suspiciously offside looking Odejayi got Stanley back into the game. When McCartan miss hit the ball, it span up nicely for him to head forward to Odejayi who from 12 yards, lifted the ball beyond Lillis.

The major talking point of the game came on the half time whistle. With 2 minutes of added time played, George Donnelly went in for a 50/50 ball with Nicky Hunt with both players colliding. Referee Brown blew the whistle for half time and then showed a straight red card to Donnelly for a studs up challenge. The bemusement around the press box, including those of an Accrington persuasion said all that needed to be said.

With a man advantage, Stanley came out and took the game to Rochdale who to their credit didn’t just sit back and defend. The majority of the play was in the Dale half of the pitch but the back 4 stood strong. Odejayi will feel he should have scored when his header went across the face of goal and the wrong side of the post whilst Lancashire made a tremendous diving header clearance off the line from Luke Joyce.

That win lifts the Spotland outfit into the top 7 and makes it 3 wins from 4 for Hills men.
Rochdale: Lillis, Bennett, Lancashire (c), O’Connell , Rose, Henderson, Dicker, Lund, Vincenti (Cummins 68), Hogan (Done 79), Donnelly

Subs: (not used) Thomson, Rafferty, Bunney, Eastham, Hery

Accrington: Bettinelli, Hunt, Winnard, Aldred, Naylor (Gray 77), Naismith, Joyce (c)(Richardson 86), Murphy, Mahoney (Hatfield 86), Odejayi, McCartan

Subs: (Not used) Miller, Mingoia, Atkinson, Dawber
Odejayi 24 Lund 6 Hogan 13

Sent Off: Donnelly 45 (serious foul play)

Referee: Brown

Att: 2180