Mark Jones made his debut as Dale crashed out of the JPT thanks to a late David Mirfin goal.
Keith Hill opted to rest the likes of Adam Rundle, Chris Dagnall and Gary Jones with Joe Thompson, Mark Jones and Clark Keltie all starting instead.
Dale: Russell, Wiseman, McArdle, Stanton, Kennedy, Thompson, Keltie, M. Jones, Buckley, Toner and Le Fondre.
There was very little to talk about in the first half, which could have been due to Dale playing 4-5-1 to nullify any Scunthorpe attacks, or it could have been down to the fog with some Rochdale fans chanting before kick off “Can you see the Scunthorpe fans?”
Both sides were trying to pass the ball at first, with Dale dominating the midfield battle with the likes of Mark Jones and Joe Thompson, who I can’t recall losing a header, impressing.
Scunthorpe goalkeeper Joe Murphy did incredibly well to flick a Will Buckley effort over his bar as Dale caught Scunthorpe’s defence napping with a short corner.
Scunthorpe then opted with the tactic off hoofing the ball as far as possible with the hope of getting some luck with the fog and at one point it nearly paid off, when Sam Togwell found himself with plenty of space in the Dale penalty area, only to fire his effort over Russell’s net and the stand.
Adkins opted to change Scunthorpe’s shape at half time with the home side looking much better than they did in the first half, as the fog disappeared from Glanford Park.
Hill soon changed Dale’s shape too with Chris Dagnall coming on for debutant Mark Jones and Lee Thorpe replacing Adam Le Fondre.
Half chances came and went for both sides as the second half ticked away, with Adam Rundle replacing Joe Thompson with around 10 minutes left as Dale looked to push forward and try and steal the tie at the end.
And the opportunity came, twice infact, as Lee Thorpe found himself one-on-one with Joe Murphy and fired his first shot straight at the ‘keeper, with the rebound being fired again at the ‘keepers legs as everyone at Dale wondered how we hadn’t scored.
Unfortunately for Dale, the missed chances came back to haunt us immediately after, when Scunthorpe centre back David Mirfin met a Kevan Hurst corner with a header that left Russell no chance to steal the win for Scunthorpe.
Chris Dagnall had one final chance for Dale before the end though, coming within millimetres of Murphy’s post.
Russell 7, Wiseman 6, McArdle 6, Stanton 6, Kennedy 7, Thompson 7 (Rundle 6), Toner 6, Keltie 6, M.Jones 7 (Dagnall 6), Buckley 7, Le Fondre 6 (Thorpe 5).