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Match Report - Dale 1 Blackpool 0
Match Report - Dale 1 Blackpool 0
Saturday, 4th Aug 2007 08:08

Dale stole the honours of a closely fought derby match with Blackpool when midfielder Gary Jones headed home a Tony Ford cross with just ten minutes left in the game, when a goalless draw was looking to be on the cards.

Dale 1 Blackpool 0

Date: 2nd December 2000 Competition: Division 3

It was a very close encounter, with both sides enjoying spells on top, but it was a double substitution with just approx twenty minutes remaining, when Graham Lancashire and Phil Hadland. It was the return of Lancashire which appeared to change everything, for his introduction saw Dale immediately become threatening in attack which they had failed to be previously in the game. Lancashire, playing against his hometown club, proved many people wrong when he put in a committed performance and caused the Blackpool defence no end of danger in the final stages. It was this substitution which won the game for Dale!

Any fears of another Spotland postponement were soon to put to one side, as fine weather ensured that the game would proceed on a surface which suggested there was little to worry about anyway. Approximately 1,400 made the journey to Spotland from Blackpool to enjoy the new Willbutts Lane facilities out of a disappointing total crowd of 4,186. They were fairly vocal for much of the game, but were ultimately silenced by the Gary Jones goal with just ten minutes left on the clock.

The game was a very even affair, with both teams having plenty of half chances to take the lead. Goalless it may have been for much of the game, but it was certainly not short of incident, with the officials yet again doing their very best to spoil it for the supporters.

Indeed, it looked like we were going to have an action replay, when the referee Phil Prosser, who had already proved his now infamous incompetency several times, had to leave the game half way through the first half through injury to be replaced by one of his linesmen.

Dale had the best of the opening spell, without any clear cut chances. They had a fair bit of possession, but Blackpool quickly proved that they were a far better side than their league position suggested. They were a big side, with a mixture of strength and skill, with players well equipped to get out of this division. However, those players could have been reduced to just ten in the opening minutes when big striker John Murphy caught Dale defender Mark Monington with a flying elbow. Referee Prosser felt that it was not intentional, and awarded a drop ball.

The first half saw Dale force a succession of corners, but failed to show the killer instinct that they have done previously the season at set pieces. Dale did in fact score from one of the corners but it was quickly ruled out. As mentioned above, it was appearing more and more to look like it would be Cambridge revisited for Dale what with the disallowed goal and the referee change.

As the half progressed, the visitors got more and more into the game, and were soon well enjoying the bulk of the possession. They had Dale on the back foot as they broke quickly and in numbers, taking advantage of the width that Dale allowed them to have. Brett Ormerod in particular was enjoying a lot of freedom down the right before fooling Lee Todd every time with his tricks.

However, despite the possession late in the half, they struggled to really threaten a goal, with Neil Edwards equal to any cross despite the huge strikers he was up against. He had one real first half shot to deal with, and he made a less than comfortable save, but it wasn't going goalwards. Most of the time, he had to deal with mistimed crosses which failed to reach their targets.

There was one other opportunity, when Neil Edwards was left stranded wide of the goal, and the ball fell to former City midfielder who looked a class apart for most of the afternoon. Fortunately for us, he chose to place his shot rather than blast, and his chose to place it rather badly, as it landed on top of the netting (without bringing it down a la Carruthers!)

The second half saw the Blackpool players run out to the pitch, just as "Who let the Dogs Out?" was being played on the tannoy. Was this deliberate? I don't think any of the Pool players noticed it, but they started the second half on top of the game, and it was some time before Dale managed to get into their half.

Again, the second half seemed to follow the same pattern as the first half, with most of the play taking place in the middle of the pitch, with some very hard fought tackles being made. It did start to get very niggly, and it wasn't helped by a referee who who refused to let the game flow at all, and two linesmen who gave everybody within five yards of the last defender offside all afternoon. They certainly intended never to allow any player to get away with being offside.

As the half went on, it looked like it was heading for stalemate, but out of either side, the visitors looked more likely to score. They had one or two breaks as the Dale defence went AWOL, with Todd and Monington most guilty. However, Monington made up for some woeful heading attempts, when he tracked back and performed a fantastic tackle on Ormerod, winning the ball in the process. Awesome challenge!

The turning point came when Steve Parkin made the substitutions the game had been crying out for. Phil Hadland was brought on to add a bit of width, but the real difference was the introduction of Graham Lancashire, who looked as good, if not better than ever before. Lancashire's introduction caused immediate panic in the Pool defence, and it also had a huge positive effect who then looked the £1 million rated player he is.

Despite this upturn in fortunes, Blackpool then had the best chance of the half, when they went straight from defence to attack, through the ever lively Ormerod who raced clear of Lee Todd. He had almost the whole of the half to himself as he made his run, but shot wide with Edwards covering the angles superbly!

Plattini and Lancashire formed an instant partnership, with movement, close control, and all of a sudden, Dale became the better side, and a goal looked just round the corner. They may not have been directly involved in the winner, but they helped Dale become an attacking late force. The goal came when Tony Ford took the ball to the dead ball line, but for once, Gary Jones was allowed a bit of space on the edge of the box. His moved to around the penalty spot, was picked out by Fordy, and he headed the ball past Barnes in the Blackpool net, who didn't even see it. Jonah ran straight to the fans behind the goal in celebration but the jobsworth referee booked him for it. Unbelievable!

The remaining ten minutes saw Dale almost increase their lead with the newly found confidence. Plattini seemed to dribble through four or five players despite having his shirt pulled in three difference directions inside the area. He just ran out of room as the keeper managed to collect in the nick of time.

Lancashire had a golden opportunity but found himself being too honest when he blocked a clearance by Barnes with his hands as he protected his head. He could have got to the rebound before the keeper but I think he was more concerned about being done for handball than scoring. Another opportunity saw him just beaten for the ball inside the six yard box, when a defender turned the ball behind following a cross from the right. Somehow the linesman had his flag up for what appeared to be offside!

Despite a couple of hair raising minutes, when Pool forced a couple of corners, Dale held on for a well earned victory. This was a fine battling performance, even though many of the Dale team had an off day today. Perhaps that again shows the spirit and character within the Dale camp for them to beat a good Blackpool side despite this?

This victory takes up to third with a game in hand. Looks like we may just end up getting what we all want for Xmas after all!

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all photos (c) Action Images unless otherwise stated

Photo: Action Images



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