Steve Parkin's men took on Scarborough in the first round of the LDV Vans trophy and came away 4-1 winners thanks to a Grant Holt goal and a rather unexpected hatrick from someone not known for goals! Report and ratings online now.

Rochdale cruised into the second round of the LDV Shield Trophy thing with a 4-1 home win against Scarborough with a perfect hatrick coming from the most unlikely source.

Actually, it wasn't a cruise for most of the game as for periods in the second half, we were the poorer side but 3 goals late in the second half saw off the Conference side.

Dale went with quite a strong team for the game and we were even blessed by the appearance of a certain Patrick McCourt returning on the right wing instead of Leo Bertos.  Matt Gilks replaced Neil Edwards in net and Daryl Burgess returned to partner Gareth Griffiths at the back.  Scott Warner returned to the first team following a spell out with a dislocated shoulder to partner skipper Gary Jones.  The remainder of the team was the same as Saturday's with Tony Gallimore at left back, Ernie Cooksey on the left wing, Paul Tait and Grant Holt up front.  The bench consisted of Edwards, Probets, Clarke, McGivern and Bertos.

Dale got off to a brilliant start when Gareth Griffiths scored a lovely left footed half volley on the turn following a Tony Gallimore corner.  It was his first goal since he scored the winner against Boston in December 2003!

Soon after that, Paul Tait had a good chance after he was put through by Grant Holt but he could only find the side netting.

There was nearly 30 minutes on the clock before Scarborough had their first chance and it came to Keith Gilroy whose effort flew wide of the post.

Rochdale nearly scored a superb team goal that involved Warner, McCourt and Cooksey before it fell to Jones whose shot was well blocked.

Chris Senior nearly got the equaliser for the Seadogs after he let fly from the edge of the box but Gilks pulled off a good save to push it away.

We were into stoppage time and Scarborough got an equaliser through Gilroy.  He controlled the ball excellently from a flick on and volleyed past Gilks to make it 1-1 and the teams went in at half time level.

Daryl Burgess went off at half time and was replaced by Jamie Clarke who slotted in at centre back alongside Griffiths.

Grant Holt notched in his 6th goal of the season with 15 minutes remaining when he towered above former Oldham defender Mark Hotte to head Dale into a 2-1 lead.  He and Hotte had been having their own little battle for a few minutes before that and it was only fitting that Holt should score and get the better of him.

Just a minute later and Dale were 3-1 up when Gareth Griffiths got his second of the night with a well directed looping header. 

With the game almost over, Grant Holt went into a 50/50 challenge with both Mark Hotte and goalkeeper Leigh Walker and all three collided and Hotte went arse over head over the keeper and the keeper took exception to Holt's challenge and kicked out at the Dale striker.  He earned himself a straight red card and with them using all three substitutions by this time, they had to shove a defender in net for the remaining couple of minutes.  A penalty was awarded and Gareth Griffiths ran up the pitch to get the ball off Gary Jones in an attempt to get his hatrick.  He stepped up and slotted past the keeper to claim his hatrick.  Not only was it a hatrick, but it was a perfect one at that with him scoring with his right foot, left foot and a header!! 

That made it 4-1 and the game ended with Dale sailing into the hat for round two of the LDV Vans trophy which will no doubt be drawn out on Soccer AM soon.

Matt Gilks 7 Not much to deal with but did well when called into action.  Not much he could do for the goal

Wayne Evans 7 Defended quite well tonight

Tony Gallimore 6 Didn't do badly but a few wayward passes were spotted though some were excellent

Daryl Burgess 7 Did alright for the first half but was replaced for the second half

GARETH GRIFFITHS 9 Needless to say, M.O.M for his perfect hatrick.  He also defended well against their attackers

Patrick McCourt 7 A quiet ish first half (only two runs) but did well in the second half.  Tracked back a few times as well

Ernie Cooksey 7 Worked hard all game and looked quite dangerous

Scott Warner 6 Wouldn't say he struggled but he looked like a player lacking in match fitness which is fair enough after 2 months out but he didn't do badly

Gary Jones 7 As usual, he worked very hard and his passing was very good at times

Paul Tait 6 Missed a good chance in the first half and didn't look that threatening to be honest.  Subbed off in second half for McGivern

Grant Holt 7 Scored his 6th of the season and worked hard. 

Subs:  

Jamie Clarke 7 Came on for the second half and did well with Griffiths

Leighton McGivern 7 Came on for Tait in the second half and always looked lively

Ashley Probets 7 Replaced Scott Warner in the second half and did well when he came on, his passing and crossing were very good

Photo: Action Images

Rochdale Polls