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Match Report - Lincoln 1 Dale 1
Match Report - Lincoln 1 Dale 1
Saturday, 4th Aug 2007 08:08

Dale played out a third consecutive 1-1 Draw against Lincoln. Despite early chances, it took a rare Ellis header to get a point at a ground where we often get three.This leaves Dale 5th in the league.

Lincoln 1 Dale 1

Date: 16th December 2000 Competition: Division 3

A draw was probably a fair result in this game, as Dale made very hard work of trying to win this one. On the plus side, it put an end to three consecutive away defeats, but on the negative, it was two points dropped against the sort of teams which should be brushing aside with ease.

Of course, when you play Lincoln, you don't have to be Mystic Meg to know how they are going to play. It's going to be long balls throughout and a real physical battle. That's what they are good at, as they play to their strengths. So if you are going to beat them, the way to do it is to keep the ball on the floor, pass it around them, and run with it. Unfortunately for much of the first half, Dale didn't do that, and were sucked into playing the aerial game, which the home side flourished in.

The second half showed a bit of an improvement, and ultimately saw Dale come back and almost win the game, but when it came down to it, there was a real feeling of disappointment at the final whistle.

Perhaps the training facilities issue played a part. Maybe our preparation for playing a side like this wasn't what it could have been due to this, and this maybe had an effect. But whatever it was, it was an under par performance.

Dale went into the game with the same side that beat Blackpool in our previous league game two weeks ago. That meant no part in the starting line up for Flitcroft, Hill and Lancashire who all had to make do with a place on the bench. Tony Ellis retained his place in the starting line up, despite struggling for form recently. They were cheered on by almost four hundred Dale supporters in a poor crowd of just over two thousand. Defeat to Dagenham and Redbridge obviously had taken its effect at a freezing Sincil Bank, where even the air raid siren bloke sounded subdued.

Within the opening two or three minutes, it really should have been game over time, as Dale had three great chances to take the lead, and it looked like it would be Shrewsbury revisited. Paul Ware had been put through into the clear, and it looked like he had the whole of the Lincoln half to himself. However as he raced towards the goal, the Lincoln defenders were bit quicker, and he was forced into an early shot before they the chance to tackle him. His shot still produced a fine save from the debutant on loan keeper Chris Day, (or Doris as he was repeatedly called in the second half), and the ball squirmed out for a corner

At this point it really was looking all too easy. Despite a couple of visits into the Dale half, Lincoln looked incapable of putting forward any real threat. They had one golden chance when a perfect cross was delivered to Richard Peacock who was unmarked in the centre of the Dale box. Fortunately for us, he was obviously a graduate of the Andy Morris school of finishing and the ball ballooned yards over the bar. But at that point, that was a solitary effort, with no signs of repeating it. So of course, it was them who took the lead out of the blue.

To be fair, it was a very well worked goal, with some excellent pass and move from the home side, which had the Dale defence chasing shadows. Despite a very slight suspicion of offside, Lincoln produced some neat passing on the edge of the Dale box between Justin Walker and Lee Thorpe. Former Dale target Thorpe threaded the ball through to ex Shaker Battersby who produced a perfect cross to James Dudgeon at the back post for a simple tap in. It made you wonder that if they can produce passing of as high a quality as that, then why they have to rely on the aerial game so much.

This goal gave the home side confidence and it seemed to knock our own. From now on, Lincoln looked the more likely of the two teams to score again, and with some pretty fancy approach play, we were perhaps a little thankful, that their finishing was so poor.

Dale had a couple of half chances, including one where Paul Ware tried another long range effort (when one of these goes in we'll be enthusing about it for years). but it went well wide without troubling Day in the Imps net. It just didn't seem to be working for Dale in the half. Plattini had his shirt constantly tugged by his marker, which kept him busy for much of the afternoon. Tony Ford got in some great positions on the right hand side, but he just didn't receive the service.

The expected roasting by Parkin at half time, failed to bring any immediate improvement in the Dale performance, but as the half went on, it was clear that Dale were making more and more progress into the Lincoln half, though the Lincoln keeper Day was never really tested, as too often the final ball let us down.

However the breakthrough came when the Queen's favourite Dale player Tony Ford was brought down on the edge of the box. It was in a great position, but the Lincoln players packed out the box, and it looked unclear where any Dale player could get through. It was like a wall of defence within the box, with arms out wide blocking any potential paths through. Lee Todd stepped up and curled the ball through, and somehow Tony Ellis appeared at the back post to knock the ball past Day into the back of the net. You beauty!

Rather than produce a Rochdale onslaught, the game then became very even and both sides had plenty of chances to win the game. On two occasions, Dale should have been awarded penalties, when Tony Ellis and Gary Jones were hampered as they prepared to shoot. Had it not been for their honesty, as they did their best to stay on their feet, and get the shot in, then perhaps penalties would have been given. Mind you, as if referee Burns would award a penalty!

Lincoln had two great chances to snatch the victory. The first came when Peacock was put in the clear down the right, and like Ware in the first half, he appeared to have the whole of the half to himself. Except for one man - Neil Edwards, who narrowed down the angle and saved superbly.

Minutes later, Lincoln had what they thought was an excellent shout for a penalty turned down when Lee Thorpe went down in the box after a Wayne Evans challenge. However, the reality of it all was that it had been a great tackle by Evans.

The closing minutes was end to end stuff. Flitcroft was introduced as a replacement for Oliver, who had a pretty awful game, and was on the receiving end of several comments from the travelling support. There were calls for other subs to be made, but given that our last three away matches had seen us concede very late goals, I think Parkin did have one eye on making sure we collected at least a point from this game.

However, it came so very close to being three in the final stages, with a real scramble in the Imps penalty area where it seemed the winner would come. But it didn't!

So we had to make do with a point, which judging by the long faces in the away support as we trooped out of the ground, was more of a case of two points dropped. However, if the home side had taken their chances, we might not have got the solitary point in itself.

Dale now slip out of the top three, down to the lowly position of fifth in the table. Before, you start the Parkin Out banners, we do have a a game in hand on some of the teams above us, and with matches coming up against some of our promotion rivals coming up, it could be a very interesting Christmas period.

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all photos (c) Action Images unless otherwise stated

Photo: Action Images



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