| Well whether this was a case of a point gained or two points dropped, depends on how you see it. It was certainly points dropped if you consider the difference in league positions. However, given that Dale failed to perform for 90% of this match, and trailed for most of the match, you have to put it down as a point rescued!
You can blame the conditions which were dreadful, you could blame the effects of two tough matches, but ultimately Dale failed to deal with the effective tactics of Macclesfield for much of the game, and never looked like getting anything out of this match. However, the last fifteen minutes saw Dale pile on the pressure, and almost snatch all three points in the dying seconds.
The match began in dreadful conditions, with rain pouring down constantly. So much so that the touchline in front of the Motorama stand was waterlogged and the ball constantly held up there. Dale went into the match with the same side that had picked up a point against Chesterfield and had beaten Cheltenham on Saturday. Macclesfield, cheered on by around fifteen Luton Town supporters, fielded a 5-3-2 system, and within the opening few minutes, it was clear that they had done their homework on Dale.
Within the first couple of minutes, it looked like we were watching an action replay of last season, as Macclesfield took the lead in their first move in our half. Dale were pressing early on, but it was clear that Macclesfield were intent on playing tight at the back, and breaking down the wing. This gave our players very little time on the ball indeed, and it was difficult to keep possession.
Dale had the ball in possession down the left, when the move broke down, and quick as a flash, Macc were on the break down their right hand side, with leading scorer Ritchie Barker. He took the ball to the byeline with the Dale defenders struggling to get back. He put the ball across to the far post, where former Rotherham striker Lee Glover was on hand to poke the ball home. Neil Edwards managed to get a hand on the ball, but not enough to keep the ball out.
This played perfectly into the hands of Macclesfield (a goal usually does!), and this allowed them to defend very deep, and attack on the break. This was very effective, and it was very apparent that Dale's tactics were not working. The Macclesfield wingbacks were preventing any Dale attack down the wings, and their three centre halves were crowding out our forwards Ellis and Platt, who struggled to hold the ball up as a result. They found very little room at all, and Dale were really struggling to break it down. With very little options cos of these tactics, it left the Dale midfield with too much to do.
This struggle continued for much of the first half. Dale had a couple of chances, one from Gary Jones who saw his long range shot beat keeper Bullock, but hit the post and bounce wide. Anything else seemed to go straight at Bullock that he gathered at the second attempt.
It wasn't all defence from Macclesfield. The way they were playing allowed them to get plenty of width, and they had a fair bit of success down the lines. Their hard working side seemed to be capable of neat passing triangles, and found themselves capable of moving past the Dale defence with ease, but they failed to offer anything in the middle to back this up.
Then the unthinkable actually happened, and Macclesfield made it two nil. They won a corner, and from that corner leading scorer Ritchie Barker appeared at the near post to head home unmarked to send the Luton Town supporters into ecstacy. Neil Edwards just sat on his goal line for a long, long time in reflection.
This prompted Steve Parkin to made an almost immediate change, with Phil Hadland the man to come off. Hadland had been getting nothing on the left hand side, as he was constantly up against two defenders for perhaps the first time in his career. He was replaced by loan signing Christian Lee, meaning that Dale would play out the remaining match with three strikers.
This provided a few more problems for the 73 man Macclesfield defence, but it was not enough to stop Dale getting booed off at half time by certain sections of the crowd. It may have been the worst display so far this season, but it was not for lack of trying, and it seems that some sections of the crowd have very short memories.
The second half began much the same way as the first half ended, with the away team very much in control. They had a two goal lead, so it was not up to them to come out and attack. Dale had a few half chances early in the half, but nothing to really make the bleach haired keeper Bullock work.
Dale kept plugging away, but again they struggled to break down a tightly packed out Macclesfield defence, and to be fair, Macclesfield looked very comfortable with this approach. They restricted Dale to a number of half chances, none of which provided any sort of headaches for keeper Bullock. Even Mono failed to test him from set pieces.
Ironically, the fightback came just seconds after Macclesfield should have had the game wrapped up. In another break, leading scorer Barker got in front of his marker and nudged the ball goalwards from within the six yard box. Fortunately, Neil Edwards pulled off a point blank save to deny him and this proved to be the turning point in the game.
Steve Parkin had previously made his last throw of the dice, when he stuck midfielders Oliver and former Macc midfielder Ware on as subs replacing the injured Clive Platt and Dave Flitcroft. They were to prove instrumental in both goals.
The first goal came with a cross from Lee Todd on the left hand side, which was met by Christian Lee who opted to nutmeg keeper Bullock with his header which went in to give Dale a fighting chance with minutes ticking away.
This proved to be just the impetus that Dale needed, and put panic in the minds of the Macclesfield players. The remaining minutes was 99% Dale, and it was just a case of whether there was enough time left for Dale to equaliser.
Lee had another chance not long after scoring, and Dale were camped out in the Macc half, However, it looked like the ball would just not fall right for us! Macclesfield packed the defence out even more so than previously (I didn't think it was possible either!), meaning that most attacks turned out to be scrambles.
However, with time running out, Dale finally got the point that they deserved (?), and of course the script was written for former Macclesfield midfielder Paul Ware to grab his second goal of the season, and the second goal of the night for Dale to give Dale a share of the spoils. Again, in a very tightly packed penalty area, he let fly from around the penalty spot, and his shot took a fair old deflection to nestle to Bullock's left with him miles away from it to leave the Luton Town supporters heartbroken.
If you thought that was it, well you'd be wrong. Dale had a chance seconds after which would have wrapped up the game when striker Lee almost confirmed his place in the starting line up for Exeter but he saw his header saved. At the other end, one Macclesfield player had a free header from a corner, but his header went just wide of the post.
All in all, a very disappointing display by Dale, when they failed to deal with Macclesfield's tactics for much of the night. You could argue that this was not a performance by a promotion contending team. Fair point, but this was a game that Dale lost last season, and the sort of game which happened several times at Spotland, where Dale failed to respond to losing an early goal. That is a clear improvement that Dale have made on last year. That could be the difference this season, turning the defeats into points. Not very boring though was it?
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