F.A.B.

Rochdale AFC 3 - 1 Aldershot Town FC

Journey:

All-in-One garden centre, Marks and Spencer, Clarks, Tesco, MacDonalds, Johnson's dry cleaners.

Saturday mornings...

It really is a good thing that I have Saturday afternoon's to look forward to.

The general excitement levels did however spike when I got a call from Mr. Keane. Apparently the HMS Zafira had run out of electricty and was sulking on his driveway. A rescue mission! Regrettably my I-Pod doesn't run to the theme tune from Thunderbirds - so I had to settle for humming it as I swept towards Littleborough.

With Mr. Keane in the shotgun position and England's future No. 1 in the back we set course for Spotland.

Weather:

As I flitted from chain store to chain store this morning it was impossible to ignore the rain. It bucketed it down.

Weather like this provokes one thought in the mind of any Dale fan: will the game be postponed? Down the years the Spotland playing surface has been notable by it's vicious duplicity. More than two consecutive hours of rain in any given week has the hearts of the Spotland faithful firmly in their mouthes.

Don't belive me? take a drive around Rochdale early on a wet Saturday morning and look for men walking their dog's. The one's performing tentative shuttle's on the grass verges are the Dale fans.

Food:

Gloves. Gloves are key at this time of year. With the wintery chill drawing in a man may feel the need for a hot drink during his two hour vigil on a Saturday afternoon. As the Sandy Lane Patisserie persists in using the outflow from Sellafield to produce hot drinks - a little extra insulation is recommended.

I regarded with knowing despair a youth attempt to courier two coffee's back to his vantage point - only for him to discover that his palms were in the process of melting. The fountain of hot coffee generated when he realised he was unequal to the challenge was quite spectacular. He to will learn. Gloves. Gloves are key at this time of year.

Away Support:

Maybe 200. Credit is due to the hardier souls of Hampshire whom had braved the elements to be here today.

Action:

After Tuesday nights swashbuckling exploits today would be a tough test. Expectation levels were stratospheric. I mean, c'mon - SIX! I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I have seen Dale run in six goals.

Therefore it was something of a suprise when we heard that Mr. Hill would once again make changes. Buckley dropped to the bench. Thompson moved to the right and Rundle returned to the left.

In the opening minutes the Shots sought to impress themselves on the game - they played some nice, tidy stuff - although with little overt threat. Dale slowly gathered themselves and retaliated in kind. Neat passing forged a selection of decent chances which pressed Aldershot back into their own half of the field.

On 27 minutes the Dale pressure payed off when the ball dropped to Rundle on the edge of the area. A slashing drive assisted by a fairly exotic deflection defeated Bull in the Shot's goal. 1-0 Dale.

With their noses in front Dale went on to pummel the Aldershot defence without serious reply for the balance of the half. Worryingly in the context of recent weeks a second goal did not come and the half finished with out further incident for the scorer.

Half time would see Spotland pioneer a new game. 'Gates of Hell'. Satan himself took station between the sticks to defend against penalties from the general public. I'll be honest - I thought the leathery wings and tail would be an inhibitor - but, what do I know? In net, Satan was - well - a demon. Truly amazing. Even the bit where he accidentaly torched the ball boy.

All in my mind...

I have started making up my own half time games to amuse myself. It is going to be a long season isn't it?

In reality a bloke called Charlie attempted the cross bar challenge. Narowly missing with both efforts. As Charlie retreated to the stands an impish Will Buckley stepped up and casually crashed the ball against the bar on the way to retrieving an errant ball from his warm-up.

The second half. Building on their first half dominance Dale continued to roll forward. Dagnall having two clear chances to extend Rochdale's advantage. One smashed against the upright the other achieving geo-synchronous orbit from less than six yards out.

It seemed scarcely relevant at the time - but the Shot's made two substitutions on 56. Including Marvin Morgan for Chalmers. As I say, scarcely relevant.

The introduction of Morgan provoked a change in approach from Aldershot. The admitedly tidy passing game demonstrated to this point was dumped in favour of a more direct approach. At well north of six feet, Morgan was about to profit richly.

Just ten minutes later an Aldershot cross provided Morgan the chance to work his magic. A half clearance from Russell left Morgan the task of heading home from close range. 1-1.

For the second time today I found myself humming the theme from Thunderbirds. Calling International Rescue!

The next ten minutes were truly torrid. Having been totally on top, Dale found themselves totally under the cosh. Aldershot pressed forward again and again - it seemed that perhaps the best Dale could hope for was a point.

Enter St. Adam.

Joining on 76 minutes it took him just five more to tie the Shots in knots and release Jones whose rebounding shot was tucked away by Thompson. 2-1.

Aldershot however were not about to accept defeat. Moments later, they had the ball in the net - 2-2? - no - thankfully for Rochdale the linesman had indicated off-side.

After an extended delay for Stanton to receive treatment for a head wound - resulting in him being subbed for Holness - Buckley burst into the Shot's box and produced a cheeky 'dinked' finish from a super-acute angle to seal the deal. 3-1.

Summary:

For those who read the score after the fact it would appear to have been a comprehensive victory. For those of us who were there it was a far nervier affair.

Aldershot were no mugs and having weathered the initial onslaught proved to have a few tricks of their own. That said, in spite of ten minutes where the result was very much in the balance, Dale rallied magnificently and finished the job they had begun in the first half.

Let's be honest, Thunderbirds wouldn't have been half the show it was if everything had gone perfectly to plan. Well would it?

Back to back wins and nine goals in two games. F.A.B.

Turner Watch:

Indisposed following the Friday night gathering of the Littleborough Debating and Choral Society.

25/10/08