| 0-0 it may have been but this was far from any boring goalless draw, as both teams produced some super football in what was a great advert for Division 3 football. How it finished without any goals is anyone's guess, as it was a very open match, and either side could have won it in the end.
However, it must go down as a moral victory for Dale (can they be awarded 2 points?), as against the odds, Dale went into the fortress that is Ninian Park, produced a stunning performance, causing the home side a lot of grief, and came so very close to winning it themselves, and they denied Cardiff the record breaking tenth successive home win in the process.
You couldn't fault a single Dale player, in which they fought for everything, and even with themselves at one point. It was a classic Dale performance in which they never stopped working or running. This was exemplified during the second half, when Kevin Kyle, whilst tight on the left hand touchline put in a stray pass to Tony Ford who was on the right hand touchline. Ford did well to keep it in, but it went straight to a Cardiff player, only for Kevin Kyle to have run the full width of the pitch to win the ball back.
This sort of performance just shows how far Dale have come under Steve Parkin. Maybe now, people will start to believe that promotion is no longer just a pipe dream, and could well be a very real prospect in the next few months. On this showing, there is no reason why we can't make the top three.
There were over 200 Dale fans who had made the long journey to South Wales for this one, which given the circumstances was an excellent turnout. Upon arriving at the ground and hearing the team news, they were certainly surprised. We had the bonus of not having to face Cardiff's teenage goal scoring machine Robert Earnshaw, who picked up a training ground injury in the build up to the game (that's twice he's avoided playing Dale - had he heard Keith Hill was back in the side?), but we were greeted with the much more surprising news that Steve Parkin had opted to play with three strikers for perhaps the first time in his managerial reign at Spotland.
The opening minutes was mostly all Dale. The Bluebirds were certainly caught out by Parkin's decision to come and attack from the off, and they were on the back foot for most of the opening half hour. Dale had the bulk of the possession, and one or two chances came our way as a result. However, if we thought that we were in for an easy ride, then we were very much mistaken. Cardiff attacked on the break, and were very fast in doing so.
As you would expect, Cardiff played some direct stuff at times, but with some fast attacking wide play at others. They looked their most dangerous at throw ins, where they had a nice little scam sorted out. When the ball went out of play, it was switched for another ball which had been previously dried by the towel carrying ball boys. This enabled the long throw specialist Andy Legg to get some fantastic distance in a Dave Challinor style on his throws. Given that they are not drying the same ball, and returning it, it probably just stays within the laws of the game. None of the officials seemed to bothered about it. Great scam. Anyway, the Dale defence did as they did throughout the game and dealt with it with ease.
Lee Todd had perhaps the best chance of the first half for Dale when the ball spilled out to him on the left hand side. He curled it towards the keepers left, but it just skimmed past the post, when it looked a certain goal for Dale. Dale's other chances came from a couple of goalmouth scrambles, where the large number of bodies in the box made it impossible for a clear strike on goal.
As the half grew on, the home side grew in strength, and Dale were having to sit on the back foot that bit more often. Cardiff did have the best two chances of the first half. The first saw Paul Brayson, who was in the side as a replacement for Earnshaw, break through the Dale offside trap, but he found Edwards coming racing off his line, as he had done all night, to block any shot before hand.
Their other chance saw the ball end up in the back of the net only for it rightfully to be disallowed for offside (at least it looked it from the far end of the stadium!). Neil Edwards produced a stunning save to half Boland, but J.Bowen came running in to put in the rebound. Thankfully the linesman had his flag up. Lovely, great, super, smashing.
Half time came and so did the rain. Of course we had no roof. The half time Cardiff draw was done, with the prize being tickets to Old Trafford for the Man U vs Everton game. No wonder, there was 12,000 at the match.
Cardiff stepped up a gear in the second half, but to no avail. They struggled to break Dale down, and the Dale defence held out superbly. Flitcroft and Jones in midfield battled for absolutely everything, and they must have been covered in bruises after the game. Kevin Kyle was everywhere, and Plattini and Ellis never stopped running.
One problem that Dale did have was that we kept getting exposed down the left hand side. With Dale playing almost a 3-4-3 formation, Lee Todd was left on his own time and time again. It didn't help that Cardiff's man of the match Josh Low was down that side, and causing havoc repeatedly. This led to arguments between the Dale players at one point, with Lee Todd giving plenty of verbals. It looked like Dave Flitcroft went in to sort things out, and he did that by grabbing Toddy round the throat. At one point, it looked like the referee was going to send them both off, as he consulted his linesman. Fortunately, he saw sense, and a stern talking to sufficed. Why didn't he bring Parkin on to talk to them and calm them down? This is the second incident of this kind this season, and Lee Todd has been involved in both of them. Is it a symptom of the passion and commitment to the cause amongst the players, or is it something more than that? You decide!
Just a couple of minutes later, the pair of them showed they had made up, by pairing up to deny Cardiff a goal. Flitcroft had a header which was going straight into his own net, but Lee Todd reacted superbly to head it off the line to spare Flitcroft's blushes. Best of friends again.
As the minutes ticked by , it still could have been anybody's game, with chances going begging at both ends. Leo Fortune West was withdraw for living up to his nickname, but replacement Gavin Gordon fared no better. Cardiff put a disputed free kick well over the bar, and despite their pressure, they could not force Neil Edwards into any sort of save.
There were plenty of tired legs in the closing minutes, but Dale came so very close to snatching it in the final couple of minutes, when Clive Platt turned and shot in the box, but it was not to be, and the final whistle brought the fair result.
Any Dale fan would have took a point before the game, and given Cardiff's home record, it is a very valuable point, in our promotion push. Given the chances that we had, it could be easy to feel slightly disappointed at not winning all three, but you forget that Cardiff had enough chances of their own as well.
The players were fantastic tonight, with not a single poor performance. Gary Jones was his usual brilliant self, and Dave Flitcroft had his best game in Dale colours. Keith Hill and Bayliss looked like they had been playing together all season, and Mark Monington will struggle to get his place back at this rate. Man of the match? Give it to all of them, because you could not single out one great performance without mentioning another straight after. The new tactics worked an absolute treat, and could be the formation we have been looking for to play in home matches.
A final word for the magnificent Dale supporters at the game, who travelled a long way to get to Cardiff in difficult circumstances, and sang their hearts out throughout. They were certainly more vocal than the home support, who seemed to be shocked at not seeing the usual five goal walkovers they have been used to in recent weeks.
The promotion dream is looking less and less like a dream, and more like a very real proposition. February is a very difficult month for us and will be seen as the make and break month with eight matches to play in 26 days. We have passed the first test. Are you ready for trips to Sheffield Wednesday and QPR next season?
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