Dale were hit by a sucker punch injury time goal to sink to their second consecutive league defeat. The goal came seconds after a Le Fondre goal was controversially chalked out by a linesman for offside. Full report now online.
| *deep sigh* Dale snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on a wet Saturday afternoon at Spotland. What made the defeat so hard to take was that the winning goal came seconds after it had looked like Dale had secured victory when Le Fondre had finished only for the linesman to rule it out for offside.
It was far from a good performance by Dale, and a Dale victory would have been harsh on a hard working but ordinary Chester side, but the manner of the defeat certainly left a bitter taste as I made that longer than normal walk up Sandy Lane after the game.
There were a couple of changes from Tuesday's win over Stoke. D'Laryea failed a late fitness test and made way for Lee Crooks. Also, Alfie was preferred up front alongside Murray instead of Dagnall who had to make do with the a place on the bench.
The game got underway with a touch of drizzle after a brief delay to the proceedings after the linesman noticed a couple of holes in the net at the Sandy Lane end of the ground.
The first half seemed to be going according to plan. It wasn't full scale revolution style stuff, but we looked comfortably the better side. We were playing with a better tempo than the visitors and every time the visitors got the ball, they looked incapable of doing anything with it.
We were very much in control, and I don't know whether its arrogance or what, but I always felt a goal was on the way. Chester had an edge of hanging on a bit, and it was commented that if we could score one, they could tumble like a pack of cards.
And so it came. And we had a touch of good fortune about the whole thing. Yet another Dale corner saw the Chester keeper produce a hapless punch at it, and on the second or third attempt, it spilled to Ramsden at the back post who could hook it home.
But rather that build on the lead, we just let Chester back into the game. The previous thoughts about how Chester would simply collapse didn't happen. It's not like we sat back and thought 1-0 would do, its just we stopped doing things right.
To be fair, we didn't look like conceding. When Chester pushed forwards, they didn't look up to match. Either they were snuffed out by the Dale defence, or they just messed things up on their own.
half time: Dale 1 Chester 0
We had a couple of decent efforts in the second half, but the visitors had the edge on things. Our efforts brought great saves from Danby - one from a Murray volley, and another from Le Fondre, but on the whole any possession that we had in the second half was wasted.
The visitors had plenty of attacks on their own, and with the visiting Cheshire set sniffing blood, they pushed on and on. It wasn't exactly like they peppered the Dale goal or anything, but an equaliser could never be ruled out. Spencer was looking very comfortable the back for Dale.
But then the equaliser came. It came from former Burnley midfielder Tony Grant. He got on the end of a cross after Kevin Ellison had gone unchallenged into the Dale box, with Grant having similar freedom at the back post.
Following that equaliser, Dale made a double sub. To be fair, it was quite controversial. Both wingers were replaced by Thompson and Prendergast. It wasn't so much the inclusion of JT and Rentaghost in itself, but rather that it allowed us one final sub when the game was crying out for both Dagnall and Doolan who were both on the bench. As it was, Dagnall soon joined the team, replacing Murray who wasn't having his best game for the club
Our best effort came when Prendergast produced a stunning cross which looked set to drop at the feet of Dagnall, only for a Chester defender to produce an even better clearance when it had goal written all over it. The nearest example I can think of to the clearance was one we had against us Rushden a few years back.
And then, arguably against the run of play, it looked like we'd won it. Dagnall came into the game, breaking free and crossing from the Main Stand side past the Chester keeper Danby allowing Le Fondre the simplest of touches to push the ball into the net.
However, whilst we were all celebrating our first League win of the season, we noticed Danby taking a free kick from within his own six yard box, and it transpired that it had been ruled out for offside.
Now we could rant on now (and believe me we will) only to find that Sunday morning's TV replays prove it be an excellent decision, but when Le Fondre finished off, there wasn't even a thought in my head that offside could be a possibility. Dagnall's cross went marginally forward to a Le Fondre who was running at full pace. Common sense would suggest that this would mean that he was behind the ball when the cross came over, and there was no possible way for him to be offside.
And if that wasn't enough, he had a defender on him, and he's not going to get caught for pace. As we said, replays might prove different, but it looked a horrendous decision by the linesman and one which ultimately cost us three points.
That disallowed goal had provided us with some impetus which hadn't previously been there, and it looked like we were set to push forward and right the "wrong" of the linesman's decision. But as we pushed forward, Chester broke and the ball made its way to Ellison who was free has he had been two or three times previously. This time, there was to be no mistake and he slotted the ball through Spencer's legs
And with Ellison's goal, Spotland proved itself once again to be the easiest pitch in the country to get on, even though there was a line of stewards in front of the away supporters at the time. If they're not there to stop people getting on, can someone please explain exactly what they are doing here? We had an incredible twelve Police officers in the away end alone today, though they had moved by the time of Ellison's goal. Whatever, we aren't getting value for money from either the Police or the Stewards.
So defeat leaves bottom of the League and the only side in the whole division without a single point. But whilst today disappointed, there's a long, long way to go just yet. Not panicking in the slightest.
Full time: Dale 1 Chester 2
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