Despite Neil Edwards saving his third penalty of the season, Dale could not hold onto their one goal lead and conceded a late equaliser to give Exeter a share of the spoils that they did not deserve.
Despite Neil Edwards (pictured left) saving his third penalty of the season, Dale could not hold onto their one goal lead and conceded a late equaliser to give Exeter a share of the spoils that they did not deserve.
This was certainly a case of two points dropped rather than one point gained, as Dale fell to last minute equaliser to Exeter. The feeling has been in the last two matches has been that once Dale have gone a goal up, they have sat back too much. Well, Exeter should have required snookers as it got to the last minute.
The game began after another immaculate minutes silence, this time for Armistice Day and because of the death of Les Bywater.
Dale started very brightly and were playing some superb football. The recent upturn in form had certainly brought about an increase in confidence, and the players seemed quite content to knock the ball about patiently.
They had a couple of first half chances, the most notable coming from Mark Williams who fired in a shot from the right hand edge of the box. Another great chance came about after a superb bit of trickery from Gary Jones who played a great ball to Robbie Painter who couldn't finish it off despite a good run. The goal came as Dale piled on the pressure. The ball fell to Paul Sparrow who fried in from close range. 1-0 to the Dale.
Talk now began about how many Dale would win by. Soon after, however Exeter were right back in. They had one of their first journey's into the box and Keith Hill was adjudged to have made a tug on an Exeter forward. It was innocuous at best and there was no appeal by any of the Exeter players. The referee who had an absolute shocker throughout the entire match pointed to the spot to the surprise of everybody. Surely Taffy couldn't save yet another penalty. As if there was any doubt. Neil dived confidently to his right hand side and tipped the ball out for a corner. This is three penalties on the trot he has saved. What the hell is Bobby Gould waiting for? Neil Edwards is very quickly becoming one of the greatest players ever to have played for the club. Forget Welch, forget Butler, forget most people. This guy is up there with the Jenkins and the Reeves. Any more and we will be building a statue in his honour.
Half time came with renewed optimism, brought about by Lord Edwards' magnificent save. The second half was a disappointment considering the first half. Dale sat back and allowed Exeter to come and attack them. This has worked in the last two games but you cannot ride your luck forever.
Dale tried to push forward but were constantly frustrated by the Exeter offside trap. Admittedly some of the decisions looked a bit on the dodgy side, but the Dale forwards could never really get to grips with it. They broke through from time to time. Miquel De Souza came very close to scoring from a good move and his shot hit the right hand post and bounced out. Mark Monington had a great effort when his header was saved by Ashley Bayes (whom some Dale fans in the Sandy seemed obsessed with in the second half) and tipped onto the crossbar.
Two minutes after Mono had a good chance when he fired wide from within the six yard box, though it was by no means an easy chance.
Dale did look very comfortable at the back and after about five hours of football, the unthinkable happened and Dale conceded a goal. Exeter stepped up the pressure in the last five minutes, and forced a corner. For the first time, the near post was unmarked and a header settled into the bottom corner.1-1.
Dale must go back to the drawing board now, as they realise that this new formation is not the be all and end all.
Dale: Edwards, Williams (Stuart), Sparrow, Hill, Monington, Bayliss, Jones,
Painter, De Souza, Bryson, Peake. subs not used Diaz and Bailey