| It's a very strange game to review this one, as it contained both the worst of Dale and the best of Dale. The first half was dreadful, and we never looked capable of achieving anything. We employed Paul Connor up front on his own, and he just found it too difficult with no support around him. In the second half, we looked a lot stronger following the introduction of Clive Platt, and we showed great character in getting the home side on the back foot, and had it not been for the theatricals of keeper Musslewhite, we may have got the equaliser that our second half performance deserved.
Hull's Boothferry Park was totally windswept at 7:45pm tonight, with rain coming down constantly and the wind howling in a diagonal direction. This made any sort of decent football extremely difficult despite the Boothferry Park playing surface being in what appeared to be an excellent condition.
Whether it was a result of the opposition, or the conditions, but Dale manager Steve Parkin opted for a major change round in his team selection and tactics. He opted to go with 4-5-1 formation which has proved successful away from home at times this season, with Paul Connor playing up front as a lone striker. He decided to recall defensive partners Dave Bayliss and Mark Monington in place of the suspended Keith Hill and Simon Coleman who had to sit on the bench, and the five man midfield included the recalled Paul Ware, and the on loan Andy Turner. Also with Neil Edwards out injured, Matty Gilkes continued in goal for Dale.
As the rain poured down on the players and the 250 or so away supporters attempting to huddle underneath the limited Supermarker roof, it soon became clear what sort of match we would be facing. With Kevin Francis up front, and in the wind as it was, the aerial ball was always going to be the most effective route as Dale battled into the wind in the first half. The nature of the wind saw that any ball aimed towards the right hand side of the pitch (as we looked at it) went straight out play.
Of course, with Kevin Francis up front, the Hull attack were a handful at the best of times, but the biggest dangers in the opening few minutes seemed to come from wayward backpasses from the Dale defence, which didn't make things any easier for Gilks.
Dale struggled to get any sort of grip on the game, and although Paul Connor worked his socks off up front, things were very difficult, and it was almost impossible for Dale to sustain any sort of reasonable attacks with no support for the recent record signing. Dale equally didn't adapt to the conditions at all well, and Hull dealt with anything we could throw at them.
Dale fell behind just before the half hour mark, in a slightly unfortunate goal. The goal came following a corner which saw the ball headed onto the crossbar. It bounced down and it looked for a split second that Dale had escaped as the ball did not cross the line, but former bury midfielder Gary Brabin was at hand to knock the ball into the back of the net.
Before too long, Hull had doubled their advantage in a slightly controversial goal. A high ball over saw Kevin Francis muscle out Mark Monington, legally in the eyes of the referee, before the ball was threaded to livewire midfielder Edwards, who had all the time in the world to fire past Gilks.
At this point, it looked to be a case of being able to hold out till half time, as Hull certainly looked capable of increasing their lead again, such was their superiority over Dale at the time. They had adapted to the conditions perfectly, and if they could have took advantage of the room they were getting in front of their Kempton Stand, then it could have been all over well before half time. However, Dale had a late chance which saw Gary Jones involved at the back post, which saw the ball rebound off the woodwork to safety (and Hull attack within 2 or 3 seconds!). That was the closest that Dale came to scoring in the first half.
Half time saw a very odd style of tactics from the home groundsmen (boys). With the Dale substitutes doing their best to warm up in the freezing temperatures in the penalty box at the Dale end of the ground, they decided that was the one area of the ground which needed forking, and one such groundsman decided to fork away at the six yard box, despite balls flying in at him. Dunno, whether it was a deliberate attempt to put the Dale subs off, but there appeared to be one or two of the balls aimed at this groundsman as he forked away.
The second half saw Clive Platt brought on for the ineffective Paul Ware, and that immediately brought an upturn in Dale's fortunes. The first fifteen minutes of this half, saw Dale camped in the Hull half for most of it, but as usual, there was a dearth of real chances created. Clive Platt looked a shadow of his recent self, and back to his best. He looked to have a confidence that has been missing since November.
With Dale now playing a straight 4-4-2 they had started to cause the home side problems, and many supporters were remarking that if these tactics had been employed from the beginning of the game, then we may not have found ourselves in the position we were now in. However, there had been enough encouragement in the second half to suggest that the game was not over just yet.
If 2-0 still held out some hope for Dale, then 3-0 seemed to be the final nail in the coffin. Hull were awarded a free kick from the right hand side, following Mark Monington being adjudged to have fouled Francis, when it was nothing of the sorts. The two had a running battle throughout the game, and Francis appeared to throw punches in Monington's direction on at least three separate occasions. Of course the referee never booked him. Anyway, the free kick was swung in and at the near post, Dave Bayliss headed the ball clear. In doing so, he had both his hands on the attackers shoulders, and it seemed the correct decision to award the penalty. Rodney Rowe had no problems slotting it past Gilks.
Everything looked dead and buried for Dale, and for many supporters, it was time to make the way back down the M62, but those that did would soon be regretting their decision as Dale launched a thrilling fightback.
The first goal came after Dale were awarded a trio of corners, the third of which Dave Bayliss managed to leap up and head home to at least give Dale a glimmer of hope with seventeen minutes to go.
Four minutes later, Dale had reduced the deficit to one goal, and although Paul Connor was credited with the goal, it was made and set up by Clive Platt. He continued to cause all sorts of problems for the home side. He won the ball down the left hand side, and got the better of Goodison as he broke into the box. His low drive beat Musslewhite only to hit the back post. Fortunately for Dale, Paul Connor was following up to make it 3-2.
As Dale chased for the equaliser, it seemed that the bit of luck that we had longed for had finally come our way, when Phil Hadland broke through the offside trap and had seemingly a one on one with the Hull keeper Musslewhite. Musslewhite raced out of his goal, and on the edge of the box, both players came into contact, with the ball spinning away. Hadland managed to regain his feet and with the Hull keeper stranded, a goal looked on for sure. However, Musslewhite started clutching his face in agony, and the referee blew up to allow him treatment. Musslewhite obviously knew that the only way that a referee is allowed to stop the game is if it is a head injury, hence clutching his head as he went down. Funnily enough, when the physio came on, he received no treatment to his head, but only to his leg, which had made contact with Hadland in the first place. A blatant bit of cheating by the ex Scunthorpe keeper. Many would claim that it should have been a penalty for Dale in the first place, but for the whole attack to be brought to a half by Musslewhite's cheating is inexcusable.
This seemed to take the sting out of Dale, and despite Musslewhite's lengthy period on the floor, the Yorkshire referee decided to only allow two added minutes of injury time for the whole of the second half. Dale couldn't take advantage of this, and subsequently the home side held out for a victory which had looked a lot more assured twenty minutes earlier.
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