Dale crashed to their heaviest defeat of the season after collapsing 3-0 to a impressive looking Northampton side. The defeat was always on the cards from the opening minutes when Dale conceded a soft goal from a corner.
You could make many excuses for the result today, but ultimately it came down to the fact that Northampton were an excellent side, and look set for automatic promotion after this well earned victory. They looked a vastly improved side from the one that Dale humiliated at Sixfields earlier in the season. They have gone from strength to strength under Kevin Wilson. They have added a couple of quality players to their team in former Dale loanee Richard Green and last season's Div 3 top scorer Jamie Forrester. They played well with confidence from start to finish and were well worth their three points.
Dale, on the other hand, looked jaded from a spell which has seen them play four games in just ten days. This has an effect on a limited squad, with key injuries to the likes of Ford MBE, Hill, and Atkinson at a critical time when strength in depth is required. With several of the Dale players having made around fifty appearances in league and cup this season, signs of tiredness were visible amongst many of the Dale players.
With Dale going in at 2-0 down at the break, a great deal of time was spent concentrating on Post Mortems for the season, with even the most optimistic of supporters realising that the Play Offs are now beyond Dale. Mathematically, they may well be still a possibility, but Dale would become heavily reliant on results elsewhere, and that is assuming that Dale can achieve back to back wins in their remaining two matches with a squad being stretched to the limits.
The style of the game was decided in the opening minutes. Northampton looked very lively, helped by the extra day between matches over the weekend. Jamie Forrester was causing all sorts of problems, as the Dale defence struggling to cope with his pace and movement, but it was from a set piece that Dale conceded the lead. Bald midfielder John Frain, whose goal from a twice taken free kick secured promotion for Northampton last time round, fired in a superbly taken corner into the six yard box for Steve Howard to head home to put the Cobblers one up and to send their very vocal 800+ support into celebration.
After Dale conceded that goal, things were very difficult. The goal had made Northampton's game plan easy for them. Defend in numbers when needed, but look to take advantage of gaps at the other end. Although never defensive in their outlook, they always seemed to have several defenders back, and Tony Ellis and Clive Platt were always surrounded, and were given very little time on the ball indeed. Chances were few and far between, and if there was to be another goal, then it looked like the visitors would be the ones to get it.
Whenever Dale got into the Northampton half, they were always crowded out. Northampton always looked very comfortable with their lead, and it was just before half time that they doubled it. Cobbler Hunt had a shot from outside the edge of the box, which went through several legs and nutmegged Mark Monington before nestling into the bottom right hand corner of the goal. Again, there were one or two comments around which suggested that Edwards should have saved the shot, but he did not see the ball until very late.
After half time, things looked a bit brighter for Dale and it was in this opening spell that Dale had their best period of the game. There were more passes completed, and for a short while, an air of optimism returned to the home ranks at Spotland. Clive Platt did well causing problems in the air, and showing himself to be more than useful on the floor. However, Dale suffered from a spell of inconsistent refereeing, with the ref blowing for any physical contact which seemed to regularly result in the Northampton players falling to the floor. At one point, one Northampton defended jumped for the ball with his arm up, and handled the ball clearly when challenged by Platt. He dropped to the floor first clutching his head, and then his ankle, when any contact was to his side.
The frustration was starting to show, and Gary Jones reacted to one challenge when he punched one of the Northampton players in the head as they tussled on the ground. He was very lucky to stay on the field for his involvement, and he escaped with a telling off. Perhaps this makes up for his unfair dismissal on Saturday.
After this brief spell, Cobblers again regained their authority on the game, and they grabbed a third goal a few minutes before half time. Like the first, the goal came from a John Frain corner, but this time it was substitute and Canadian International Carlo Corazzin who got the goal prompting a mass exodus of the 2000 Dale supporters at the game.
The final whistle brought much celebration amongst the travelling support, who knew that this result had put them into the top three. The score line did not flatter them and promotion looks a real probability. Its funny the contrast between this game and the one at Sixfields, where Dale outclassed Northampton by some way. Today was completely the opposite.
As expected, many of the thoughts turned to next season, with speculation about what and who was needed for Dale to make the necessary improvements to make a sustained promotion challenge. Let us not forget that this has been a very good season, much improved on last year. We have seen some excellent performances this year, with many which will remain in the memories for many years. It is easy to be downbeat about the season now, knowing what has escaped our grasp, but it is been a long hard season. Manager Steve Parkin will know exactly what areas where improvements are needed, and no doubt, he will know who he wants in his squad for next season. It may be a Rochdale cliché, but there is next season to look forward to. We still have an awful lot to be happy with and confident about.