Television

Darlington FC 2 - 1 Rochdale AFC

Journey:

04:30 hrs - bolt upright in bed - it's today! Rochdale are in the play-off's and I have a ticket!

Admittedly, it was just a little early to set off - so the next eleven hours were spent scouring the TV for any news about Dale. Nothing. Well if you exclude the advert on Sky promising 'exclusive' live coverage of this afternoon's game. I imagine ESPN, Canal+ and RTL were gutted.

The coverage of Dale's extraordinary centenary season on the telly has been - well - non-existent. Considering everything that Mr. Hill has achieved - with a budget you could comfortably carry in your trouser pocket - hardly a moment of precious airtime has been devoted to Rochdale. In contrast I have been subjected to seemingly endless coverage of MK Dons 'fairytale season' - in this particular case the fairytale included several hundred thousand pounds. Even Stockport County got five full minutes on North West Tonight - I mean c'mon!

After hours of frustration the fingers on the clock finally crawled round to 2:30pm - and as if by magic - Mr. Keane appeared. And when Mr. Keane appears all his little friends appear as well: Mr. Mitchell, Keane jr and in a real turn up for the books: Mr. Keane snr. Due to space pressures in my car Messers Jones, Turner and McCabe would be travelling in the 'B' car - ably piloted by Mr. Jones.

After a minor SatNav moment we were underway. M62, M1, A1, A66 - 1hr 30mins - done.

Most of the journey was spent Dale coach spotting - we counted 12 or 13 in total. Amazing. In the tradition of such trips we had a trivia question posed by Mr. Mitchell:

Name the nine players, capped by England whose surname begins and ends with the same letter.

We managed Scholes and Stiles. Please feel free to chip in.

Weather:

Hot, hot, hot!

Food:

Catastrophic pie failure.

When I made the trip to the pie shop I discovered that there were simply no more pies. Considering that this game was an all ticket affair - it wouldn't seem unreasonable that Darlo could have planned to have enough pies. Sadly not however. All that was left were jumbo packs of prawn cocktail crisps and packets of Starburst - not really traditional football fayre.

Ground:

The Darlington Arena is a truly amazing place. Clean, modern, symetrical and quite the best ground I have visited this season - or any other for that matter. There was even plenty of parking - although getting away from the ground proved to be a much bigger trial than getting in.

Pleasingly the people of Rochdale had abandoned their traditional pursuits of benefit fraud, robbing each others houses, shooting up and becoming involved in drunken brawls - 3500 had made the trip to the north east of England.

Being (apparently) the only person in Rochdale who is in gainful employment - I missed Jonathan Swain's sensationalistic run out on GMTV last week. However, based on Mr. Swain's approach to journalism I can confidently make the following statements:

All men from Ireland are called Paddy.

Everyone in Scotland has ginger hair.

All women from Wales are called Blodwyn.

Everyone from London is a loveable chimney sweep.

Everyone from Liverpool was in the Beatles.

I know these things to be true - because I know of at least one person from that locale who fits the description. It's obvious when you think about it...

With just over 4500 Darlo added to Dale's 3500 fans the atmosphere approaching the game was amazing. The only pity was that one whole side of the ground was empty.

Action:

5.35pm - go time!

A truly frantic start from both teams. Nerves clearly in evidence - errors from both sides contributed to an open and exciting first ten minutes. Darlo having a great effort from Wiseman denied by quick reactions from Lee, Dale's Dagnall denied from 22 yards by the underside of the cross-bar.

However, far from spurring Dale on, Dagnall's blast signalled the high water mark for Dale in the first period. From here onwards it was pretty well all Darlo.

Jones and Perkins in the heart of the Dale midfield found themselves overwhelmed by Darlington and chance after chance followed for the Quakers.

It seemed only a matter of time before Darlington would reap their just rewards. On 29 minutes they did.

Darlo's Kennedy flummoxed McArdle before unleashing an exquisite curling shot past Lee into the top corner. It chokes me to say it - but this truly was an excellent goal. 1-0.

The balance of the half was little better than damage limitation for Dale. The Quakers continued to comprehensively outplay Rochdale and created chances to further extend their advantage. Only a grimly determined rear guard action - with Lee starring - prevented further embarrasment.

Half time was a mercy.

Hats. Earlier in the season my colleague Mr. Keane had been quite strident on the topic of my millinery selections. Therefore imagine my surprise when Mr. Keane turned up wearing a brown, leather pork pie hat. Some people will do literally anything to get their fizog on the telly - see earlier comments re. Mr. Swain.

The highlight of halftime was a sneak preview of the 2008/9 home shirt. They aren't supposed to be available yet - but one lucky young lady had got her hands on one and was proudly showing it off. It's a good looking shirt - Inter Milan - or - Gillingham - dependant upon your aspirations.

The second half began cautiously - Darlo seemed content to defend and break, Dale struggled to get a hold on the game.

Very often a game can turn on the attitude of one or two players - this is what happened today. Around five minutes in Jones and Dagnall decided it was time to take the game to the Quakers - and they did.

Just as Darlington had dominated the first half - Dale, led by Jones and Dagnall poured forward. Darlo's first half supremacy evaporated.

Chance followed chance as Rochdale turned the screw. The only surprise was that it took Dale until the 70 minute mark to level things up. A smart turn from Dagnall, a rasping shot, a deflection - GOAL! Stockdale in the Darlington goal didn't even move. 1-1.

With things now level - Dale pressed onward for a winner. After the horror show in the first half, it was a joy to see Dale play the way they know they can.

However, as full time approached 1-1 it remained. If I had been offered the draw at 4:30am this morning - I would have taken it. Not a bad result...

And then things went wrong.

A rare Quakers attack culminated in an ill considered challenge from Jones which saw Darlo's Wainwright sprawling and Jones in the referee's book. Wainwright dusted himself down to take a deep angled free kick - Lee saw the danger and rushed off his line to punch clear - he missed - Miller headed the ball into the vacant net - 2-1 for Darlington. A wave of silent disbelief spread over the Rochdale fans.

But it wasn't quite over - with just seconds to go USS Howe smashed the ball toward the Darlo goal - only a solid block from Stockdale prevented Dale from re-levelling the tie.

2-1 it stayed.

Summary:

A woeful first half, an extraordinary second half. 1-1 would probably have been fair - but Darlo hung in there and nicked it at the death.

A great game, a brilliant location - not an ideal result, but not a disaster. The maths for the home fixture are pretty stark - score twice, don't concede.

Believe The Sign.

Turner Watch:

Shorts - I need say no more.

10/05/08