An own goal from Dagenham defender Danny Foster was the difference between the two sides as Dale picked up only our second home win of the season, and our second clean sheet of the season in the process. Report now online.
| There was a feeling of relief as much as anything at the
final whistle as we picked up three points at Spotland for the first time in
over two months. Was it a deserved three points? I'm not so sure, but the
win was very much appreciated. It was a pleasant November Saturday afternoon at Spotland, though the November sun wasn't enough to tempt more than around 2,300 to make it to watch Dale.
Wasn't helped by quite possibly the smallest away following seen at Spotland for an afternoon kick off, with Dagenham's travelling support falling way short of three figures. Yet another argument for us Football League snobs who feel that the League is being cheapened by the inclusion of clubs like Dagenham.
Our line up pretty much picks itself at the moment as you're well aware of, with the only question mark being Scott Taylor chosen to partner Glenn Murray ahead of Adam Le Fondre. The injured list remains as strong as ever.
Dagenham lined up with what seemed to be an entire side made of up of players who used to play for Barnet. That and former Dale defender Jon Boardman who must have been odds on to score the winning goal given the amount of terrace tweaking taking place in the opening stages.
The first half didn't really happen. Not that we all imagined it, but just it passed us all by without any incident of any note. From an attacking point of view, we had a few spells of decent possession. We had a few moments where we looked promising, but we didn't force a single save of note out of the Dagenham keeper Roberts.
At the other end, Dagenham didn't exactly threaten but when they did come close they found Dale keeper James Spencer in inspiring form. Whilst he wasn't pulling off any world class saves, he did everything that you hoped a keeper would do and any ball crossed over was always going to end up inside his hands. I was always a big fan of Matt Gilks, but I think we have found a better keeper in James Spencer.
We were maybe fortunate to remain with eleven players after Marcus Holness pulled back one Dagenham striker as he raced towards goal. He was clearly the last man, and it was perhaps only the fact that it happened 35 yards away from goal which meant that a yellow card was shown and not a red. I'm sure Steven Gerrard would have had it upgraded.
As for the rest of the first half, it just sort of passed us all by. I'd have took notes if there was anything to take notes on. The only moment worth remembering was myself being the only person inside the stadium to misinterpret the referee and celebrate as the referee gave a goal kick instead of a penalty. Ah well, we've all done it once or twice.
Dagenham had the ball in the back of the net as time ran out in the first half, but fortunately the referee had blown early in the play for a hand ball. I looked over in hope for a Dagenham fan celebrating unaware of the referee. Nope.
It was clear at half time that things weren't working. We'd had plenty of the ball, but we were toothless and it was difficult to see us creating anything through Glenn Murray and Scott Taylor who both seemed to be playing the same role. It was very frustrating, especially with someone with the talent of Adam Le Fondre on the bench.
But we didn't have to wait too long for Alfie to come on, and as we've seen in recent weeks, we switched from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 with Kallum Higginbotham coming off the bench along with Alfie with Muirhead and Taylor making way.
The changed did exactly what was required. It might not have brought a goal in itself, but it freshened things up and it gave Dagenham plenty to think about. There was an uncertainty in their minds after we'd been completely predictable up until then, and it was very worrying to see Jon Boardman get the better of Glenn Murray practically all afternoon.
The lad Higginbotham was the one who stood out for Dale, as he tore Barnet to pieces down the right wing. He attacked with pace and skill, and the Londoners had no answer for the striker who was playing youth team football just a few months ago.
But whilst the former Oldham striker was causing problems down one side, the winning goal came from the other side. Adam Rundle who had a decent game all afternoon put in a great cross from the left wing. It was met by a fantastic diving header by Dagenham defender Foster who put the ball into the back of his own net giving the not former Spurs keeper Roberts no chance at all.
It was questionable at this stage whether we were winning 1-0 having not even had a shot on goal so far. Of course they all count.
The goal brought much of the relief mentioned above, and it allowed Dale to sit back slightly and press on the break. It worked well for Dale, with Higginbotham showing every aspect of his potential.
It wasn't all one way and we had to survive a couple of hair raising moments at the back with Dagenham putting people forward and at one stage we really struggled to clear the ball, and the indignation of Boardman getting on the scoresheet was a real possibility at one point.
The main worry for Dale was the form of Glenn Murray who looked a pale shadow of his former self. He reminded me very much of an out of form Paul Connor, and at one point he half heartedly went for a ball just two yards outside the Dagenham box. Many fans screamed for a foul, but he hadn't even got close enough to the ball to be fouled, as the Dagenham defender nipped in and cleared the danger.
Bizarrely, that incident seemed to spark Murray into action and for the next five minutes, we had the Murray of old. Knocking players away from him, breaking free of the last defender, winning headers, and being a complete team player. If this incident brought about the change in how he played, then confidence is clearly not the problem.
The win takes us to the top of the bottom half of the table, and given our game in hand, it has to be said that for every concern that has been raised about our form in the opening three months to this season, we are still very much in the fight.
If we'd have been told back in August that we'd have lost Chris Dagnall for the season, and we'd have an entire defence missing for the first few months through injury, then we'd have been fearing the worst for the season.
Taking all that into context, then perhaps we're in a much stronger position than we could have been. Yes, we all know we've not hit last season's standards just yet, but we're still in there plugging away and we're not losing games. I know "not losing" doesn't equate to "no fear home and away", but with our injury situation, things are only ever going to get better rather than worse.
Click here to add your Player Ratings
|