Perhaps not top of the table, but we must have faced this sort of fixture at Spotland loads of times over the years. Bit of form going into the game, lots of questions as to whether this is the real thing, facing a home game which anybody with enough kahunas to do so would have described as an easy three points. And almost without exception, we've blown it over and over again.

Reality might suggest that we haven't been quite as consistent in our blowing it, but gut feeling recalls very little fixtures over the years in which we've haven't come away muttering "typical bloody Rochdale".

And those emotions cast a bit of a shadow in the run up to this game. It's one thing footballing sides to death, but when faced with an ugly, brutal, negative Keith Alexander side (irrespective of whatever football spin he tries to claim on Radio Manchester), it was almost guaranteed to give us the kick in the nads that the midweek's top of the table celebrations had probably demanded.

But not this time.

For Keith Hill's Rochdale broke all the "typical Rochdale" rules, and eased their way to a 3-0 win which was every bit as one sided as the scoreline suggests it was. Despite early stubbornness from the visitors, the damage was done in two minutes where the game was put beyond any doubt whatsoever, and whilst one or two supporters might have been hoping for a cricket score, we settled for a cricket declaration instead seeing out the game in complete comfort.

We had just the one change in the starting line up with Kallum Higginbotham coming in for the injured Joey Thompson, but perhaps the biggest shock was seeing Dale line up in the purple away kit. Was this considered a lucky kit by Hilly or did Macc not realise that changing their blue kit to their black kit wouldn't really help differentiate between the sides?

The first half suggested that it was going to be every bit the difficult fixture that we had anticipated. Macc had lined up with just the one up front, but with the first player with a beard seen at Spotland since the 1970's playing in a defensive midfield role for the Silkies, we found it somewhat tricky to turn on the samba stuff as seen at Bratfud some days previous.

There was very little to write down from either side, as the two sides traded metaphorical punches for the opening half hour. Clear cut chances were few and far between, with the visitors' best effort coming courtesy of a deflected shot which went narrowly wide. Another decent move was ended when Stanton was judged to have brought their striker down, earning himself a yellow card in the process.

The turning point came with an injury to the aforementioned beard. Bencherif was felled by Jason Kennedy in what looked at the time to be a pretty harmless challenge. Kennedy was given his second yellow card of the season but the injury turned out to be much worse than first realised with Bencherif leaving the field with a suspected broken leg.

But the departure took out the lynchpin of the Macc side, and the visitors never really recovered from it. Indeed, within five minutes of him going off, the game was all over for them.

The opening goal came with shades of Dale from the past. It was if Chris O'Grady had been filled with the spirit of Lee McEvilly for one magical moment. A perfectly fair shoulder barge from O'Grady sent the Macc defender flying, allowing the Oldham striker a time and space in the box, which he used brilliantly to cut the ball back to his fellow loanee Will Atkinson who had no hesitation in burying the ball into the back of the net to give Dale a lead.

The bodyblow was doubled within two minutes, and if we're being fair, there was a touch of good fortune which led to the goal. With Dale pressing, an attempted clearance ricocheted perfectly into the path of Scott Wiseman, who in a position that no full back should ever, ever be in, fired home with the sort of accuracy to impress any striker at this level.

From now on, it could have been anything. Macc had the look of one of those neglected and mistreated animals appearing in RSPCA adverts. You could almost sense them wanting to ask the referee to call it game over early, so they could head back to Maccland and perhaps catch some Xmas shopping at the Trafford Centre on the way back.

If there was to be a way back for the Silkmen, half time came and went and showed that in the second half, we were simply going to toy with them for the second half. It became a lesson in possession football, and if any Macc fan was being brutally honest with themselves, they failed to trouble Tom Heaton at any time in the second half.

Indeed, their only chance came from the new look Keith Alexander football where their keeper produced a 80 yards pinpoint pass, or a hoof to me and you, to their striker who collected the ball in acres of space. He misjudged the bounce somewhat, and he was left to head the ball back to the Dale keeper in an embarrassing fashion.

Macc's chances of a comeback somehow decreased when they were reduced to ten men following a crude attempted challenge on Chris O'Grady. Credit to the referee, for given O'Grady's attempts to stay on his feet, most referee's would have just ignored the initial challenge, but it often takes a brave man to do what he believes to be right rather than take the easy option.

We had a few olés but it was going through the motions stuff for Dale, as we never really got out of first gear.  Protection of the clean sheet, without picking up any further injuries seemed to be the main priority.

Chris Dagnall was given a rest with fifteen minutes to go, with a debut for loanee Danny Glover. The Port Vale man looked lively when he came on, and came close to opening his Dale account when his shot was well saved by Macc keeper Brain. Much maligned at Vale Park, he certainly has something about him and a far superior option off the bench than Spencer or Manga.

But 2-0 wasn't a fair reflection, so 3-0 it had to be, And it was Jason Taylor who grabbed the third goal deep into injury time, with three loanees combining well. Atkinson picked up the ball from O'Grady, and cut it back for Taylor who directed the ball into the back of the net. There was only just enough time for him to celebrate as it proved to be the final touch of the game for a Dale player.

So 3-0 at the end, and successive clean sheets for the first time since February. Indeed, our very own Matt Flynn has been the only person to score against us in nearly 360 minutes of football now.

A very tricky fixture had been dealt with easily, albeit thanks to a couple of breaks in the first half, but it was easy street from that point on, and when you consider that this side has been robbed off Kenny Arthur, Marcus Holness, Gary Jones, Will Buckley and Joey Thompson through injury, it's no surprise that we didn't go all gung-ho with the points safely in the bag with an hour left to play.

The win means our stint at the top of the table continues for another week, and no matter what happens now, results elsewhere will ensure that we'll be in the automatic promotion places on Christmas Day as a seven points gap has been created between ourselves and Notts County in fourth place.

But with performances like this, there's no need to even consult the league table. We've shown we can play against those wanting to beat us and now those who just fancy nicking a point off us. If we keep doing this, week in week out, then the league table will take care of itself.