Goals from Tony Ellis and Graham Lancashire were enough to give Dale victory in this Lancashire - Yorkshire game after allowing the visitors to take the lead. However, as with so many times this season, Dale forced their way back into the game to take all three points.

Dale are almost starting to get predictable this season. Once again, Dale gave the opposition a start completely against the run of play, then fought back to win the match comfortably (well almost). It's difficult to decide whether we should be celebrating the fact that the Dale players have displayed time and again the character to come from behind, or whether we should be criticising them for making things difficult for themselves by gifting the opposition leads. As long as we keep winning, then I think we should stick to the former rather than the latter.

The match began with just a couple of hundred or so making the short trip over the Pennines from York for this match on a pitch that was cutting up badly in places. Dale had to make a couple of enforced changes, with the heart of the midfield ripped out by injury and suspension. With Peake and Flitcroft both out, there was a recall for winger Graeme Atkinson and a first team debut after impressing in the reserves for Warren Peyton.

The game began and it was fair to say that for the first twenty minutes or so, there was only one team in the match, as Dale controlled the game. It seemed that Dale would continue to demonstrate their superiority that they showed up at Bootham Crescent early in the season, when Dale strolled to a three nil victory which put them top of the league. There seemed no real urgency to Dale's play, and last weeks second half nightmare seemed to have not affected the players whatsoever.

Dale came close to scoring on two occasions. Both opportunities involved scrambles in the York penalty box, but Dale just could not put the ball in the back of the net. York, as ever, defended deep in numbers, which made it difficult for Dale. At one of these scrambles, it looked like Dale should have been awarded a penalty, when a York defender chested the ball with his arms wrapped around it, but I think the referee made the correct decision.

But as always, the spell of pressure died off, and the game deteriorated into a midfield battle, with few chances for either side. Then the unthinkable happened. York scored. AARGH! They were awarded a free kick on the right wing down near the corner flag. The ball was crossed straight into the six yard box, and Edwards came off his line to catch the ball. Unfortunately, he couldn't get anywhere near it, and the ball looped over his head and ended up in the back of the net (it may have got a touch on the way in). The goal was credited to York's Barry Jones.

Dale tried to get an equaliser before half time, but it wasn't to be. Despite a series of corners, Dale failed to test Bobby Mimms in the York net.

The second half began with Dale searching for a way to get back into the match. At times it was getting a little scrappy, and there was a confrontation between York's Conlon and Keith Hill, which had been brewing all the way through the match. Fortunately the referee was fairly tolerant and decided to just yellow card both players, thus denying trivia fans everywhere.

Steve Parkin decided that it was time for a change and for the first time since August, he gambled on playing three forwards. Within seconds it paid off. With Platt causing problems in the box in the middle, it freed Graham Lancashire to move further towards the front. The ball came in, and Lancashire turned and fired home to make it six in six for him.

From now on, the impetus was with Dale and the crowd has been woken up by this goal. Within minutes, Dale had secured the victory. Goalscorer Graham Lancashire received the ball from Chris Bettney on the right hand side, and Lanky just ran at them. They couldn't cope with his pace, and during this run, Tony Ellis had got himself into a great position in the middle. Lanky put over a super cross which allowed Ellis time to position himself and score the winner.

With Lancashire causing problems at the other end, he obviously felt out when York were on the attack. So much so that he came back to defend winning the ball well, before passing the ball back to Edwards. Unfortunately, this was from the edge of the penalty area with a crowded six yard box. Edwards managed to scramble the ball away in what was York's last chance of any note. Lancashire didn't stop apologising to Edwards till he was back on the right side of the halfway line, whilst Edwards indicated his calmness in the situation to those behind the goal.

After this, Dale came close to increasing their lead on a couple of occasions, when Ellis continued to cause problems. Steve Parkin opted to make a couple of changes, but continued with the three forwards on the pitch. Perhaps after last week, he felt any defensive moves might resurrect the problems of last week.
Not to worry, as Dale managed to hold out for the three minutes of injury time for a well earned victory. This is the fifth time since November that Dale have come from behind to win the match. Once the equaliser went in, there seemed little doubt that Dale would go on to win. Furthermore, York put up exactly the same sort of defensive performance at Spotland that Macclesfield, Hull, Halifax etc were doing earlier in the season that cost Dale vital points. So the run continues now to just one defeat in eleven matches, and a run of six wins out of the last seven matches at home. Perhaps, the tag of away specialists will start to drop now. Dale are now in the Play off zone, and in an excellent position to make an assault on the top three. If we can continue to grind out victories, when not always playing to the best of out form, then it might just be out year after all.

Photo: Action Images

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