If we're being polite, we'd say that Boardman found the step up from the Conference a step too far. If we're being honest, we'd say that Boardman had proved to be not good enough from start to finish in his time with Dale and his decent performances could be counted on the fingers of one finger.

What is perhaps surprising is how few games Boardman actually played for us during his eighteen months with the club. He started just twenty league games during this time, though he will without doubt be a name forever associated with the second spell of Steve Parkin.

He might have found things in his first season, had he been afforded a consistent defensive partner to play alongside him. But he wasn't due to injuries to other players, and as it was, he looked out of his depth and we went from a team who had kept a record number of clean sheets to one which never looked comfortable at the back.

Despite what the stats might say above, he looked a little too lightweight and was often dominated throughout matches by the striker he was due to mark.

The highlight of his time with Dale came when he scored the winning goal against Rushden in 2005-6. His last minute header secured the three points for Dale after coming off the bench.

Optimists hoped that a second season of League Football may have seen an improvement in performances from the former England Non League international, but it was not to be, and he was given just four League appearances before being cast into the wilderness. He last touch in the Football League saw him dismissed for a lunge on Bury's Dwayne Mattis.

He left Dale in January 2007 when he was given a free transfer to sign for Conference champions elect Dagenham and Redbridge. He had a good start, bizarrely scoring regularly for them, making a total of nine appearances before the end of the season.

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