| This really was like a stroll in the park. Dale started the game in awesome style, and Exeter never recovered from this spell which saw them fall two behind in the opening twenty minutes. After that, the foot came off the gas, and Dale did what was needed to see the win out.
Paul Connor was again the hero for Dale scoring two goals, which make the equal top scorer in the league already having played just eight matches for the club. He caused the visitors all sorts of problems, and could have had another hat trick with ease. They just couldn't cope with him at all, as he was certainly a class above their poor defence.
The win now takes Dale back into the play off hunt, as our hopes are very much still alive. If we can continue this sort of performance, then the season which was written off by many just three weeks ago, may still bring us what we have sought for the past thirty one years.
The Sun was shining over Spotland this afternoon eradicating the usual pre-match call off fears. Spring had certainly arrived this Bank Holiday Monday, and apart from the usual sand pits near the Main Stand, the pitch looked in super condition.
A crowd of just under 2,800 showed up at Spotland including a small but vocal at times number of 159 from Exeter who had made the journey Northwards to cheer on their team. Those included one lot who chose this game for a Stag Do! Hope the Marriage works out better than the Stag do did!
Dale kept the same side for the third game on the trot, despite only playing 48 hours earlier, but there were few signs of tiredness from the Macclesfield game. Exeter fielded a team with some wonderfully named players including Epesse Titi, Zabek,. Van Heusden, and Ampadu. They also included Steve Flack whose performance was laughable!
The game itself could have been over within the first ten minutes, as Dale's recent signing Paul Connor tore Exeter to pieces and could have scored three within the opening ten minutes. They had no answer for his pace, and their attempted offside trap was in absolute tatters. Every time, he was through, and it was only for Exeter keeper Van Heusden that he didn't add to his tally.
Paul Connor got Dale off to a flyer within the first five minutes. The goal came via a poor attempt at a header from Dave Flitcroft. He missed the ball, but Tony Ford stepped in to rescue him, and put over a peach of a cross for Connor. Connor then saw his header saved, but he reacted so quickly to bury the rebound into the back of the net at the WMG side of the ground to put Dale in front!
As mentioned above, the lead could have been extended three or four times over as Dale threw everything at Exeter in the following spell. Connor came close on a couple of occasions as did Platt who also had a superb game.
We didn't have to wait too much longer for a second and it came after twenty minutes. Again it came courtesy of a Tony Ford cross, this time from a corner. The cross came in and Mark Monington headed it goalwards, and Van Heusden seemed to get a touch on it, tipping it onto the cross bar. Fortunately for Dale, it went straight to Dave Bayliss who was alert enough to fire the ball back towards the goal, and this time Van Heusden was nowhere to be seen and Dale went 2-0 up as a result.
In all honesty, it was champage and cigars time from this moment on, as the game was all over as a contest. Dale took the foot off the pedal. The way they had started the game had showed that they were light years ahead of the opposition, and they could have plundered their goalmouth for the rest of the game, but the job was done, and they sat back,
In sitting back, this did create a couple of small alarms. Highly rated Christian Roberts came close with a free kick but Neil Edwards saved it well pushing it wide and out of danger. The Exeter forward line looked very poor, with Flack hardly in the game, and Spencer doing his dying swan impression after a challenge by Todd only to bounce up immediately when the ref gave nothing.
Half time came and went, and Dale remerged looking that bit more focused than they did before the break. Perhaps they'd been urged to keep up a professional attitude and not allow Exeter any opportunity to get into the game at all.
Within ten minutes of the second half starting. the match was signed and sealed as a Dale victory, when Paul Connor got his second of the game. The goal came as Dale pumped the ball forward, and Clive Platt headed the ball between the two centre halves as Paul Connor broke free of the offside trap again. As he approached the keeper, he calmly slotted it past him to make the advantage three goals.
After that, the Dale players lined up to increase their lead. Platt, Ware and Oliver all came close but found the Exeter keeper equal to their efforts. Graham Lancashire, who came on for Connor, actually got the ball in the back of the net, when he knocked down a Van Heusden clearance, before slotting it in, but the referee ,who went a bit mental in the second half, disallowed it.
The referee eventually did the Exeter players a favour by blowing up to make it seven points out of nine for Dale, and another clean sheet in the process for Dale.
With results elsewhere doing us a favour, the play offs are really within our reach again. This may well be our season after all!
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