| It was certainly a bad day at the office for Dale, as they failed to deal with a team that the league table suggests should have been beaten with relative ease. However, Halifax's tactics restricted Dale to long range efforts. In fact, their tactics worked perfectly for them. With the pairing of the twin lurches in Matthew and Chris Clarke, they won all the aerial battles against the likes of Plattini and Mono, and by getting as many men into the box to defend, they packed the place out, stopping Dale playing the usual football. It might not have been especially pretty from the Shaymen, but it worked successfully and at the final whistle, you'd struggle to find a Halifax fan who was particularly bothered.
The cause wasn't helped by the fact that a number of Dale players had an off day, but ultimately, you have to give credit to the visitors Halifax, who came with a game plan, stuck to it, and reaped the rewards at the end.
The game began with around 750 Halifax fans making the short journey down the A58 to Rochdale. As far as we know, none walked. Those that came looked pretty impressed by the new stand, and were stood gawping up at the stand before kick off in admiration. Can't blame them really! The Willbutts Lane stand was almost filled by one rather obese late arrival who spent half the game wondering from end to end of the stand taking his clothes off.
The travelling Shaymen helped contribute to a crowd of over 4,000, with another good turnout by Dale fans. Not that you'd know it by the atmosphere, as it continues to look and sound like we only sing on our travels!
Steve Parkin elected to go with the same side that had brought success in the previous two games. However, it was clear pretty early in the game that the midfield was not pumping on all cylinders as it had against Hull and Darlington. As mentioned above, Halifax packed out the midfield and that brought success. It was a not too dissimilar style of performance from the Shaymen to the one we witnessed at Spotland last season, where they gave the Dale players very little time on the ball indeed.
The first half saw very few clear chances for either side. Clive Platt was getting very little change out of Chris Clarke, and there was no real width to the Dale attacks. Winger Simon Davies had a poor game and struggled to keep up with the pace of the game. The Dale midfield failed to get any real control of the match, and the visitors looked fairly lively. In the first half, they looked to attack more than most teams have at Spotland so far this season.
Dale's only real effort on goal came halfway through the half, when Dale had the Shaymen defence pressed back. Tony Ellis had the ball at around the penalty spot, and passed the ball out wide to Ford who was free in space. However, by the time he got the ball, Town keeper Butler had come out and narrowed it down to such an extent, all Ford could do was fire straight at him.
The goal which eventually turned out to be the winner came after half an hour. Neil Edwards was forced to punch a clearance, but in doing so, found himself impeded somewhat by what looked like one of his own defenders. The ball broke to Town's leading scorer Steve Kerrigan who produced an overhead kick (not quite Jason Peake style) which went in off the post with Edwards scrambling back.
The second half consisted of Dale spending most of their time in the Halifax half, but time and again, they failed to get the necessary breakthrough and get through the Halifax backline who were resolute in their defending every time.
Lee Todd had Dale's best effort of the match within the opening ten minutes of the second half. He collected the ball around thirty yards out and tried to curl it in towards the top right hand corner. He didn't quite get hold of it right, and although the direction was spot on, the goalkeeper just had enough chance to get back and stop it crossing the line.
The rest of the half consisted of Dale trying in vain to force a way though, with Halifax looking to break out when possible. They had a couple of chances to increase their lead. One, when Neil Edwards tried to bring the ball back into the penalty area and just managed to keep it out of the reach of giant striker Matthew Clarke.
Changes were made when Phil Hadland was brought on to replace Simon Davies, who was mostly ineffective for most of the match. However, Hadland's introduction did nothing to change the way was going, and he had a nightmare opening spell, which involved him putting the ball straight out of play on the Willbutts Lane side of the ground without any pressure. Perhaps he was put off by the fat Yorkie with his shirt off!
It looked like Hadland had got Dale a penalty, when he managed to break through the defence and started to cut in from the left hand side. As soon as he got in the box, he went down. I didn't have the best of view, but it did appear that he was looking for a penalty, rather than being genuinely brought down.
As the game wore on, things got more desperate for Dale, with hopeful balls put into the box, but this desperation only added to our lack of penetration, and Halifax cleared with ease time and again. Dale had another shout for a penalty turned down, when a Halifax player handled in the box, but again it was too far away from me to judge any intent.
The final whistle brought the inevitable disappointment to the faces of both the fans and the players, and no doubt pleasure to those quick to be the first to announce the end of the season.
There was no real lack of effort from Dale today, but more a lack of a killer touch. They worked very hard, and there were some good performances, but on the whole, it was just never going to be our day. You can't take anything away from Halifax who deserved their win for their excellent defending throughout the game.
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.