And so to Bournemouth with its top of the table billing in what was our toughest game of the season. Aside from Hill's quite correct comments about overspending on the part of AFCB, manager Eddie Howe has done an outstanding job down at Dean Court in circumstances beyond his control, and he is a further example of how intelligent management is the most important factor to succeed at this level.

As for ourselves, it was never going to be easy for Dale, with such a patched up side. No captain, with Gary Jones breaking down in training, no wonder kid with Will Buckley out missing for a third week on the trot, no right back with McArdle having to step in again for Scott Wiseman, and no goalkeeper with Kenny Arthur pulling out on Friday, with Dale reportedly setting off to Dorset not even knowing who'd be in goals for us for this clash.

From the start you could see this wasn't going to be easy for either side. Both sides saw this as a vital game where more than just points were on offer. It was very much about putting down a marker for the season ahead between two teams who will be battling it out between now and May.

If I'm being honest, I thought the home side just about edged the first half. They had more of the ball, and caused a few problems down the right wing, with TK having to be on the top of his game to cope with the pace of Feeney, but possession didn't translate into chances, with our defence coping well with a combatitive attack from Bournemouth.

But the first blow should have gone our way. O'Grady was bundled over in the box after about two minutes and it would have been a certain penalty had it been later in the game. Pre-match talk of how we've not returned from a game for a while ranting at how an official had cost us was starting to look like coming back to haunt us, as we couldn't possibly see how this was not given.

Alan Connell was causing us bother, and it looked like he was showing the potential that he had shown at Torquay and Brentford without really making it. He'd incurred the wrath of the Dale fans, mostly through his threat and the problems he was causing us.

It was end to end stuff, without either keeper having to overwork themselves, it looked to be a very tight affair.

Undoubtedly, one of my favourite things in football is the sight of opposition supporters celebrating wildly , gesturing towards ourselves, completely oblivious to the raised linesman's flag, and being in a position to inform said supporters that their celebrations were all in vain.

We were given this little treat, when a Cherries attacker headed home from a corner with around five minutes of the first half remaining. However, he was clearly offside at the time of the flick on.

And just to rub it in either further, with seconds of this we had taken the lead. Outstanding work from O'Grady and Dagnall, as the Oldham loanee gambled on the run of his strike partner by threading the ball beyond the back line, for the Scouse striker to break clear and dink it past the on rushing keeper. 1-0 to Dale with just enough time left for the home side to restart before the half time whistle.

The second half could have gone either way. With the home side still backed by a vociferous home support, which thankfully didn't need the tannoy assisted backing that they had before the game, we were expecting an onslaught in the second half. After all, AFCB were top of the table on merit, and they hadn't go there by giving up on the slightest set back. Arguably, with all their embargo stuff, they are a side to flourish on any set back - this result was most certainly not in the bag.

But the 2nd half started with Dale on the ascendancy and the only side capable of getting back on the scoresheet. With Joey T and Whaley swapping wings, we were causing all sorts of bother, and it was Thompson who came very close to scoring one of the best team goals you'll have ever seen from a Dale side.

Linking superbly well with O'Grady and Dagnall, Joey T found himself terrorising the home defence, and it opened up brilliantly for him, but his curled effort was just a foot or so too high. This side is capable of scoring "the perfect goal".

But this five minutes of Dale pressure suddenly woke up the home side and for ten minutes they had their best spell of the entire game, and whilst it wasn't chance after chance after chance, they had lengthy spells of possession and Dawson and Stanton needed to be on top form to protect the debutant keeper behind them.

And then came what we've come to know and love as "footballing the opposition to death".

We ran riot, with a stunning display of passing football which left the home side chasing shadows. Lee Bradbury must have been wishing for a return to the Army at one point, as Thompson tore him to pieces over and over again.

It wasn't just there. Our right wing proved to be very dangerous, whilst the left wing was our key to success. There was no living with us, as we arguably produced the best fifteen minutes of the Keith Hill era.

Our second goal came with Dagnall on the edge of the home side box, with Joey T lurking to his left, he cut the ball to the centre for O'Grady to fire home on the turn. Wonderfull stuff.

But the goal of the game came from Simon Whaley, who decided to invoke the spirit of 86 with a goal straight out of the Maradona text book. With the home side's Danny Hollands playing the Peter Reid role wonderfully well in ensuring that he had the best view of the goal, Whaley turned him about four times before Hollands decided to start watching Whaley advance on the penalty box.

It was a build up that we've seen so many times over the years, only to be thwarted by an "if only" finish. Not this time, the boy Whaley gave it a fiercesome low drive to make it 3-0 to Dale and prompt mass evacuations from the home stands.

Now the fourth goal was just a minute or two away, and whilst it was probably the least spectacular of the four goals, it had everything which is so wonderful about this side of ours. It had Dagnall battling to win a ball that he had no right to do so, a fantastic cross picking out the one Dale player in a box containing several defenders and a fantastic finish giving the keeper no chance at all. 4-0 to Dale and our glasses were most certainly half full at this stage.

We could have been a bit greedy at this point, and had we so desired, we could have added numerous goals to our tally. The home side were dead men walking, but in cricketing terms, we issued a declaration over the home side, and gave them a lesson in retaining possession as we knocked the ball about like a team of Lancastrian galacticos.

And then the victory was marred ever so slightly by a challenge by Nathan Stanton. It was probably deserving of two reds as he needlessly lunged in on a Bournemouth player, and in doing so became the most sent off player in our history from what we can gather.

Despite whatever public statements get made to the contrary, it would not be wrong to suggest that this leaves a very serious question mark over the future of Stanton at this club. The unreliability of his temperament is overshadowing any talents he has a player, and he cannot argue that he has been given sufficient chances and backing by the management.

With discipline given such importance by our management team, as reflected by the very few number of cards collected this season, it seems almost inconceivable that we will risk a repeat derailing our season, especially with the excellent form of Holness and the return to fitness of Rory McArdle.

Being reduced to ten men did bring a moment of uncertainty. And had the Cherries managed to take advantage of their numerical superiority immediately, we could have faced a very uncomfortable last few minutes. But after a panicky minute or so, the game reverted to type as we passed the ball about milking the Olés from the travelling Dale support as we saw out the final few minutes, even urging the home side on to have a shot. There's nothing like patronising the opposition whenever you get the chance to.

And whilst understandably our attacking threat will win all the plaudits following this game, let us not discount the influence of the impeccable defence for this game in providing the basis to allow our attack minded players to flourish. That clean sheet was every bit as important as the four goals at the other end.

It would be easy to dismiss this game as being a case of us being ace, and Bournemouth being rather poor. But this had been two excellent sides giving it their all, with the difference being clinical finishing on our part, and our ability to control the game with the cushion of that lead.

The final whistle and subsequent drive home, which seemed somewhat shorter than the 280 miles, had us reflecting on the win and trying to put it into context. For me, its not so much about this one result, but the number of this free scoring away victories that we've had in the Keith Hill era.

This is arguably the most pivotal moment in the history of the club. I have no doubts that we'll either look back on this time as the time where the club changed and moved out of the doldrums or look back on this as the failed opportunity where we failed to build on the wonderful platform we have been given.

We've never had it so good.