Dale 1 Blackburn 1

What a fantastic performance by Dale, as they more than matched their more illustrious neighbours in an enthralling match at Spotland. And just when it looked like all of Dale's efforts were to have been in vain, Dale scrambled a last second goal to ensure that they go into the second leg on level terms.

There wasn't a single disappointing performance by any of the Dale players, as they worked hard against a team that has won the Premiership and played in the Champions League in recent history. Clive Platt was awesome and his £100,000 price tag looks very cheap indeed on this showing. He never stopped causing Blackburn problems throughout the entire match. Tony Ford defied his years to follow up his fine showing at Brighton on Saturday, with one of his best performances in a Dale shirt. He didn't even tire throughout the entire game, and looked a damn sight fitter than some of the big money signings in the Rovers side. Gary Jones, after coming on as a sub in the first half for Paul Ware, proved a point this evening, and demanded his recall to the first team on Saturday.

I could go on. The two full backs, Todd and Evans were both outstanding, and performed brilliantly both in defence and in attack. Keith Hill looked very comfortable tonight when up against two £4 million strikers in Jansen and Blake. And Tony Ellis. What can you say about Tony Ellis? Well he had loads of chances tonight and missed them all, some where it looked like he would have been better off using his team mates, than shooting himself. But he was there when it mattered as he headed home in the last second to give Dale just rewards for their efforts.

The game began with Spotland looking full. Not many times you could have said that in the past few years. But with the Willbutts Lane Stand still to be completed, the remaining three sides of Spotland looked to be complete. The Sandy Lane looked just like the old days. (or at least how us dreamers remember it!). Full and very vocal (when they weren't disturbed by the very poor drumming). The Motorama stand was full from end to end, and the Blackburn fans justified the decision to give them the WMG by filling it.

The game began on a solemn note with a minute silence to the late Jack Walker, though it had more of a joyful remembrance feel, as the minute began with a spontaneous round of applause from the Rovers end. This was followed up by both sets of supporters declaring their hatred for all things claret, and by this time, it was looking like the night was going to be played in a testimonial pace. As it turned out, it couldn't have been much further from it.

Dale, kicking towards the WMG in the first half, started strongly and stayed well on top. It was a good while before Rovers even made it into the Dale half. Dale had a lot of possession and knocked the ball about well. Obviously Rovers were a danger when heading forward, but the Dale defence seemed to cope well with it.

Dale had a few chances throughout, but nothing clear cut. Platt was causing Rovers loads of problems at the back. Dale were very much up for the game, and it was played at a tremendous pace.

It was far from one way traffic however, and Rovers had plenty of chances themselves. Former Man Utd right winger Keith Gillespie, playing tonight on the left, seemed to regularly get the ball in acres of space, but always wanted to pull the ball back onto his right foot, and this always allowed Wayne Evans to come back and cover.

Rovers had a great chance to take the lead midway through the half, but found themselves thwarted by a fantastic double save from Neil Edwards. The first save was a great one, but to recover and save the second was pure class.

The second half began in much the same way that the first half ended, with end to end football on offer. Dale were still a match for the ex Premiership side. However, on the hour mark, with Dale perhaps enjoying one of their best periods in the game, Nathan Blake got the beating of Wayne Evans down the left hand side, and raced through before calmly slotting the ball past Edwards. This had not been on the cards, and Blake was made to look a very ordinary player throughout the match. However, he was given a chance and he took it, and you can't really argue with that.

This looked to be the signal for Dale to collapse. We have seen it before in this competition with heavy defeats against the likes of Leicester and Southampton, despite playing well for the majority of the match. And for a short while it looked like that could happen. Dale had a couple of little scares shortly after when it looked like Rovers might double their lead.

However, Dale managed to survive this mini period of Rovers' domination, and the last twenty minutes of the game saw Dale dominate and come close to scoring on several occasions. Dale were pretty much camped out in the Rovers half, and chance after chance went begging. Tony Ellis was particularly guilty on several occasions. On a few occasions, he got the ball with his back to goal, and did his usual trick of turning and shooting, with the ball whistling past the post on several occasions.

However, with time running out and Dale surviving a couple of late scares at the other end, the goal that had eluded them for so long finally came. Gary Jones picked up the ball and ran at Blackburn before letting fly from distance. Aussie keeper John Filan saved well but saw the ball fall to Tony Ford on the right hand wing who looped the ball goalwards for Tony Ellis to finish off with a diving header at the far post to spark mad scenes of jubilation in the Sandy and Motorama Stand.

This was the least we deserved, and was very much reward for an excellent Dale display. There were only a handful of seconds left to add on, and the referee blew his whistle for full time soon after.

Now you can start being pessimistic and say that Rovers were still suffering from the loss of Jack Walker, or that Dale could have finished off more than what they did, or why can't we play like that every week, but at the end of the day, you have to just appreciate what a fantastic performance by Dale. Had the game finished in a 1-0 win to Rovers, I would still have been enthusing about the quality of the Dale display.

Dale man of the match: Clive Platt. Was awesome yet again. He never stopped causing problems to Rovers throughout the game, even when it was clear he was knackered towards the end. There may well be still a question mark whether his partnership with Ellis has hit it off, but Platt, for me, has been Dale's best player so far this season, and is improving game on game.

Referee: Roger Furnandiz (Doncaster) - not always a favourite at Spotland, but had perhaps one of the best refereeing performances I have seen in recent years. He let the game flow, and allowed a game of football to take place. There were one or two late tackles, but that is part and parcel of cup football, and he realised that, and treated them as late tackles, rather than anything malicious. He had words with players when needed to and he looked to enjoy the match

Click here to return to the 2000-1 Season Index

all photos (c) Action Images unless otherwise stated