Dale produced a late, late show to rescue all three points to maintain their promotion push. And the winning goal came from the unlikeliest of sources, when defender Dave Bayliss produced a scissor kick to grab the winner.
Dale produced the 'Get Out of Jail Free' card in the last minutes to win this game when Dave Bayliss popped up in the box to score a super winner to send Dale back into the play off zone. Whether it was deserved or not is a completely different story as Dale threw away a lead by allowing Chester to come at them in the second half and snatch a deserved equaliser eight minutes from time.
Steve Parkin opted to make several changes from the team that lost at Exeter last week by bringing back Chris Bettney and Dean Stokes into the starting line up. There was also a debut for loan keeper Paul Gibson, signed during the week to replace injured Neil Edwards. In Taffy's absence, Mark Monington was given the captain's armband. Chester had an unfamiliar line up with several changes to the side that lost at the Deva Stadium back in August. New Boss Ian Atkins, who lost his job at Northampton following a home defeat to Dale, has made several new signings in his short time at Chester, and they are already playing like an Atkins side.
The game began with both sides playing like the league table suggests. For a change, Dale were kicking towards the WMG end of the ground in the first half. Dale were well on top, and Chester looked a poor side and that was the way it continued for much of the first half. On the basis of the first few minutes, you got the feeling that Dale could have run up a cricket score if they wanted to.
And everything was going according to plan. Nine minutes into the game, and Dale take the lead from a cross from the left wing. Bettney crossed the ball into the mixer, and Graham Lancashire just steered the ball into the back of the net to put Dale one goal up against his former side. This goal put him clear as the club's leading scorer for the season with nine goals in just fifteen starts. What a difference he has made in recent weeks.
It was now just a case of sitting back and waiting for the goals to start coming. Dale were looking particularly dangerous on corners, despite the height advantage of the visitors. There were a couple of opportunities where it looked like Dale had increased their lead, but City managed to scramble the ball away. All of the action seemed to be at the end of the pitch, with new boy Gibson having little to do at the other end. The only time we looked in any danger was following a couple of back passes. One saw Gibson take no chances and put it out, and the other saw him clear the ball with a nine iron like effort.
The second half saw a big turnaround in the fortunes of both sides. Dale came out and as the half progressed, seemed to be content to sit on their one goal lead. The lessons of Southend have not been learnt. Chester on the other hand kept plugging away and got the full reward for their efforts late in the game.
The warning signs were always there and had it not been for Dave Bayliss, they would have equalised a lot sooner. A cross came over which Gibson failed to deal with efficiently, allowing the spilled ball to hit goalwards. However everyone's favourite scouser (after Jimmy Corkhill) popped up to clear the ball of the line just as the visiting supporters were starting to celebrate.
The Chester fans didn't have to wait much longer as with only eight minutes to go they got what they deserved for their second half efforts. With the home fans getting restless at Dale's inability to kill the game off, Chester broke down the right hand side and put the ball over to the left hand side of the six yard box for Luke Beckett to loop the ball over the head of Gibson to send the away fans mental. Whether this was a reaction to him whipping off his shirt to show his immense girth or in celebration of the goal remains to be seen. He got a yellow card for his actions but he didn't seem bothered too much.
With the away fans now finding their voices, it looked like it would be a case of two points dropped. In fact there was even a slight fear that Chester would go on to snatch all three points having been spurred on by their goal. As it happened, the winning goal as only a matter of minutes away.
With just two minutes to go, Jason Peake knocked the ball into the box from a free kick. The ball was knocked back to find Dave Bayliss on the right hand side of the six yard box who acrobatically knocked the ball into the back of the net prompting wild scenes on and off the pitch.
All in all another very welcome three points in the bag. The sign of a successful team is winning when you don't play well. Dale are doing that, and are grinding out victories. This is now eight wins in our last nine home matches. There is an awful lot to be confident about as we approach the last few months of the season. Chester were unlucky today and looked worth a point for the way they battled back in the second half.
However, yet again Dale have battled back and took all three points, just as they did against York and Macclesfield last month. If we can keep this going, there is no reason why we can't secure a top seven position at the end of the season.