Rochdale moved up one place with a point at home to Brentford and it should have been three points but a late Glenn Poole goal saw that it wasn't. Match report online now.
Rochdale took on Terry Butcher's Brentford side at Spotland and just when the three points seemed to be in the bag, a former Dale loanee popped up with a stunning equaliser to send the visitors home with a point. Even though we only managed to gain a point from the game, I left the ground feeling quite pleased with the general performance and when you consider that the preperation for the game must have been extremely difficult with us only having a fully professional defence the day before the match thanks to Hilly bringing in Kelvin Lomax from Oldham and Rob Atkinson from Barnsley on loan in addition to striker Scott Taylor who arrived on Thursday on loan from MK Franchise. There was an added boost before the game as we heard that Rory McArdle, who was scheduled to be out for about two weeks after injuring himself on international duty, was given a painkilling injection and was ok to play the game. Given the injuries we've got, the team was pretty self explanatory. We had Spencer in goal, a back four of Lomax, McArdle, Holness and Kennedy, a midfield four of Muirhead, Jones, Perkins and Rundle with Le Fondre and Murray up front. On the bench were Russell, Atkinson, Prendergast, Higginbotham and Taylor. Dale lined up in their yellow away kit despite being at home because Brenford didn't bring their away kit and the referee decided that red and white stripes clashed with black and white and we had to change. Brentford didn't at any stage look better than us and the goal was the only shot on target I remember them having and that looked more like a hit and hope shot than intentional but nevermind. The first half was awful really, a really scrappy affair, so poor in fact that we basically spent most of it looking round the Sandy Lane for talent and to be fair, there was more than normal about but it's not like we don't do it every other game. Boredom was also cured by Dale_Bullet's very amusing random outbursts! Anyway, Dale did have a few decent chances. Adam Rundle had a shot well saved by Brown in the Brentford net and not long after that when Glenn Murray was just out of reach of a cross from Lomax. Gary Jones hit a first time volley well wide in typical Jonah fashion, I.E one great goal for every twenty scuffed efforts. Dale continued to create half chances with Muirhead going close and Murray having a weak header easily saved but at no point did I think we'd leave the ground without three points such was the lack of Brentford firepower. The second half a little better but a lot more frustrating for Dale fans. Just after the re-start, Glenn Murray hit the crossbar with a cracking header which Brown had no chance with. It's fair to say that Murray was playing a lot better than he has done this season. He started the season off looking completely off the boil but he's starting to look more like the Glenn Murray of last season which is encouraging. Adam Le Fondre was surprisingly taken off and replaced by loan signing Scott Taylor. Just beyond the hour mark and the deadlock was broken. A freekick on the right wing was crossed in well by Adam Rundle and headed into the net by one of the Brentford defenders but that didn't stop Glenn Murray claiming it for his 4th goal in 14 games this season. Brentford's gameplan of just sitting back and defending had been undone but they still couldn't create anything and Dale continued to look for goals to increase the lead. A freekick on the edge of the box saw Gary Jones blast it goalwards and it was kept out by Brown although I bet his hand was hurting afterwards, such was the power in the strike. Marcus Holness was having a very impressive game and looked solid at the back but he was forced to come off with cramp and was replaced by another loanee in Rob Atkinson who was also impressive while he was on. Glenn Murray was still causing problems and he managed to beat two men, turn and volley, early Paul Connor style but his effort went just over the bar. Ben Muirhead was replaced by Rory Prendergast with five minutes left. The game just seemed to be waiting to finish from then on with the players playing out time, until two minutes from time when a Rory McArdle header fell to former Dale loanee Glenn Poole who hit a first time shot from about 25 yards which looped over Spencer and went in off the post. First time viewing suggested it was a hit and hope effort and they certainly didn't deserve it. Referee Michael Oliver blew for full time and although it's not three points, the performance wasn't bad and there were quite a few positives to take from the game and given the injury problems we've had recently, I'm not too unhappy and fancy us to beat Morecambe next week. Player Ratings: James Spencer - 6 Kelvin Lomax - 6 Tom Kennedy - 7 Rory McArdle - 6 Marcus Holness - 7 Ben Muirhead - 6 Adam Rundle - 7 David Perkins - 5 Gary Jones - 8 Adam Le Fondre - 6 Glenn Murray - 7 Scott Taylor - 6 Rob Atkinson - 7 Rory Prendergast - 6