The season began with such optimism as the Dale blue army (all 124 of them) invaded the South West for this opening day encounter. Hopes were high, and even higher as Dale took the lead in the opening few minutes. However, all optimism soon faded as the home team took control....

Dale crashed to defeat on Saturday down in the South West to a team who looked far superior to us.

The game began brightly enough for Dale but Plymouth looked very threatening and quick when attacking. Indeed, Plymouth were denied what looked a definite penalty in the first few minutes of the match. One of their forwards broke through the Dale back line and went one to one with the Dale keeper Neil Edwards. Neil appeared to trip him with his forearm, but the referee who was in charge of his first ever game in the Football League, didn't give anything. You would have thought that it was either a penalty or a free kick to Dale for diving, but he just gave a goal kick.

At this point it looked like the luck was on our side. Indeed, minutes later another Plymouth striker was clean through and his shot was parried by Edwards right into the feet of Lee Power who had the easy task of putting it in the back of the net. Surprisingly the linesman decided that it was offside and the goal was disallowed.

The home fans were getting a little irate at this stage and one large specimen climbed over the barrier onto the pitch in protest. Once on the pitch he did not know what to do and slipped and landed on his very large backside. He was soon dragged out by the stewards, who took him out in front of the travelling Dale contingent. On his way, the large gentleman decided to kick the advertising hoardings much to the amusement of the Dale fans.

In the ninth minute Dale were awarded a penalty, when Graham Lancashire had his legs taken from him in a brutal tackle. Lanky coolly put the ball to the keepers right and Dale were one up much to the annoyance of the natives.

From then on, it was backs to the wall stuff as Plymouth fought hard to get back into the game but never looked too threatening in the first half.

Plymouth started the second half well and equalised through bury reject Ronnie Mauge. He left Andy Farrell for pace and put away a through ball. After this it was a case of hanging on for a draw.

Goalscorer Lancashire was substituted replaced by Mark Bailey, leaving Mark Leonard as a sole striker, and Jason Peake was soon took off with Gary Jones making the switch. The winner came with about fifteen minutes to go. Dale new boy Paul Sparrow was nutmegged, and the cross was met by striker Jean who duly finished.

David Gray was brought on, in an attempt to snatch an equaliser. He caused a couple of problems for the Plymouth defence but nothing that they couldn't handle.

It must be said that this was a very disappointing performance by Dale. We had the rub of the green, but couldn't do anything with it. It seemed, rightly or wrongly, a negative performance by Dale. The only problem came with the penalty and never looked likely to score again. Having seen them play so well in the first half at Wigan in the recent preseason friendly. Keith Hill was played just in front of the defence as he did against Burnley and had little success again. Paul Sparrow had a poor match. Dale's options were restricted when Lanky was taken off leaving Leonard as the only recognised striker. Admittedly Lanky wasn't playing especially well, but wouldn't David Gray have been a better replacement than Mark Bailey? Gray can be clumsy on the ball, but he has the height and speed which gives him the chances. We weren't getting any at this point.

Plymouth are a good side, who were only just relegated last season. Not many people felt that Dale would be able to hold them out for eighty minutes. Attacking options would have at least made the Plymouth side less comfortable. Monington and Painter were both injured and unable to play. Painter's tireless efforts were sorely missed.

There was a Dale contingent numbering about 150 with many of the southern based Dale fans making the long trip. Many Dale fans missed the match. There were big problems on the M5 and many Dale fans got stuck in this. Some decided that they had already missed it and turned round. Even the Supporters club coach didn't make the match at all. Many Dale fans had took the opportunity for a weekend away and were treated with the tropical weather. Considering the traffic problems they were grateful for that decision.

Dale : Edwards, Sparrow (Gray), Stokes, Hill, Johnson, Bayliss, Farrell, Lancashire(Bailey), Leonard, Peake(Jones), Stuart.

Photo: Action Images

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