Now that's what I call music

Rola Cola Sponsored English League Two
Accrington Stanley FC 2 - 4 Rochdale AFC

Journey

At some ungodly hour this morning 180 Rochdale fans set forth for Accrington - on foot.  It took me almost one second to decide that I wouldn't be joining them.

I would drive.  30 mins tops - mind you parking is a bit of a trick around the Crown Ground - so I set off early.  At 13:15 hrs I saddled up and headed over the hill.

30 mins passed.  In the midst of a vile tempest, I was sat in a traffic jam.  Granted quite a lot of Dale fans were making their way to Accrington - 1600 tickets sold -  but this seemed excessive.  I passed an accident - pretty minor - a few bent bumpers - but this wasn't causing the delay, although it did slow things down a bit.

45 mins passed.  Still tipping down - now completely stationery.

75 mins passed.  Another accident - on the other carriageway.  The whole carriageway was closed.  I won't describe what I saw.  If you saw it, you know what I mean.  If you didn't, you don't want to.  Sobering.

The closure on the dual carriageway combined with the roadworks that girded the approaches to Accrington meant that I wouldn't get to the Crown Ground until 15:10.  Having negotiated the disgruntled lady who handed out the press passes - 'are you gonna blame me for the traffic as well!' - I hot footed it to my seat - slipped on my headphones - apologised to the listening public and Mr. Culshaw, felt grateful to be there at all - and commenced my semi-informed wittering.

I should have walked.  I really should.

Weather 

Daffodils outside Aldi, cold, windy, pouring down - it must be spring again.

Food

The Stanley burger.  A work of genius.  Big burger, cheese, fried onions, choice of sauces - £3.  I had to wait until halftime to get my laughing tackle around one - but it was worth the wait.  About that diet...

Ground

The Crown Ground will probably never win any beauty contests - it is basic at best - but it has charm in spades.   The uncovered away end was packed to over flowing with boisterous Dale fans, the other end was manned by the formidable 'Stanley Ultra's' - complete with a drum and lungs like barrage ballon's - they sang solidly for an hour, bouncing up and down like angry Zulu's.  A good old fashioned derby day.  To add a touch of 'jumpers for goalpost's' to the scene, a knot of boys had clambered up a mound of earth behind the away end - to watch the game for free.  Marvellous.

News

Told you so.  Craig Dawson.  League Two Player of the season.  As if there was ever any doubt...

Not out.  On Boxing day 2007 I wrote my first report.  This is my 100th.  Sincere thanks to both of my readers - I couldn't have done it without you.  To mark a solid rather than spectacular century, the nice folks at Evilscheme - http://www.evilscheme.co.uk/ - have done me a fancy new site banner.  Enjoy. 

Action

Your team for today:

GK: Fielding
Def: Wiseman, Stanton, McArdle, Kennedy(T)
Mid: Taylor, Jones, Kennedy(J)
For: Dagnall, O'Grady, Thompson

Bench: Arthur, Dawson, Flynn, Holness, Toner, Obadeyi, Higginbotham

Dale have enjoyed a good deal of success against Accy since they rejoined the Football League.  Five good wins and a solid draw.  What the scorelines failed to reflect is that most of those games had been pretty close affairs with Stanley giving every bit as good as they got - and on most occasions being pretty unlucky to be on the wrong end of the scoreline.  Then they went and did it - a composed, well planned performance at Spotland in October saw the 'little team that could' finally get their just reward.  What it meant was that this tie was far from a gimme.  Accy have promotion aspirations of their own.  Today would be tough.

On a pitch that had a lot in common with a ploughed field, Mr. Salisbury got things underway...

I could describe the first half in detail - but I won't dwell on it too much.  Accy were pretty much on top from the off Dale had plenty of defending to do - Taylor proved to be the linch pin of the rear guard - Symes could and probably should have opened the scoring but for sharp reactions from Fielding, Kenndy(J) had Dale's best chance but spooned it over the bar from six yards, .

Even if I had wanted to elaborate, I couldn't.  Whenever anything interesting happened an elderly lady jumped up in front of me and remonstrated with players and officials alike.  I had a good view of the back of her coat - but not much else.

As I munched on my illegal half time burger, two familiar faces appeared through the crowd: Mr. Keane and Keane jnr.  Not odd in itself - other than that we were in the Main Stand.  He had finally arrived 30 minutes into the game having braved the traffic - and been put into the Main  Stand because they couldn't squeeze another soul into the away end.  Having reflected briefly on a pretty poor first half for Dale, he disappeared off in search of the legendary Stanley Burger.    

Rochdale started the second half far better than they had left the first - but just as it semed Dale were getting the upper hand - Stanley struck.  With the Rochdale back line's offside trap in disarray Billy Kee deftly slipped the ball through to Symes,  Fielding advanced, Symes didn't flinch.  A cool, placed finish did the rest.  1-0 Accrington.

Four minutes later all seemed lost.  Billy Kee once again did the damage - his inch perfect pass found Miles, once again Fielding stood no chance.  2-0 Accrington.

As Mr. Culshaw summarised the goal I quietly prepared myself for the worst.  There was surely no way back now.  Dale had barely got into the game and now they were 2-0 down.  Damage limitation at best from here on, I thought.

Gary Jones would have no such defeatism...

Two minutes later he popped up in the six yard box to turn in O'Grady's low cross.  2-1!

Within moments, Thompson seemed to have equalized from close range - only for the linesman's waving stick to rule it out.  A heartbeat later Gary Jones popped up on the edge of the area - his drilled shot deflected wildly leaving Accy's keeper, Bouzanis, cursing.  2-2!

The fightback was on.  Three minutes later, an actual fight was on.  As best as I can understand, Taylor and Symes had a bit of a roll on the ground - some punches were thrown and both saw straight red cards.  I wish I could tell you more - but I was looking at old lady coat.

Minutes later, a very strange half got stranger.  From 2-0 down - Dale took the lead.  Dagnall's shot was charged down, Higginbotham swept in and tee'd up O'Grady for his twentieth of the season.  2-3!

Accrington were reeling.  What had been a pretty traumatic few minutes was about to get much, much worse.  Bouzanis attempted to clear up field, the ball hit Dagnall in the kisser and flew into the path of Higginbotham.  With Bouzanis miles out of position, Higginbotham had a quick look and let fly from just inside the Accrington half.  Bouzanis looked devastated, Higginbotham looked delighted.  2-4! 

Mr. Salisbury blew his whistle to bring matters to a close on the most extraordinary 45 minutes of football I have ever seen - including the bits which were mostly coat.

Speak Your Brains

Your cast for today: me and 1600 delerious Dale fans.

• Bournemouth lost - Dale are now 11 points clear.
• 2-0 down to 2-4 up - now that's what I call a comeback!
• You have got to feel sorry for Accrington - they had done everything right - John Coleman will be having nightmares about this one for months.
• Gary Jones.  Right man, right place, right time.
• Kallum Higginbotham.  Only scores two kinds of goal: Crucial - Dagenham, Outrageous - Crewe and again today.  The boy is back to his best.
• As I left the Crown Ground I passed the away end - hundreds had stayed behind and they were singing:  'AND NOW YA GONNA BELIEVE US!  THE DALE ARE GOIN UP!'.  Now that's what I call music.    

I never expected that

Rola-Cola Sponsored English League 2
Rochdale AFC 1 - 2 Accrington Stanley FC

Journey

Winter is on the way. Today is officially the last day of Summer. As I drove up to Spotland I noticed that the tree's that flank Sandy Lane were clad in red and orange - although the swirling wind and rain were doing a decent job of undressing them. The gutters were thick with discarded leaves.

Torrential rain, frost and snow cannot be far away.

With the balmy months of August, September and October behind us, months of winter stretch ahead. This is where the serious business of challenging for honours is sorted out - in the dark and cold of the English winter. Postponements due to bad weather can play almost as big a part in a team's fortunes as anything they may do on the pitch.

As the wind whipped at the tree's and the rain lashed at my windscreen it did occur to me that just perhaps the game may be called off today - but then as I parked up the sun came out and the skies cleared. I never expected that.

It was only just 2 o'clock but the crowds around Spotland were already building and there was a buzz in the air. Dale are third in the table - a win today could see them go first. I never expected that either. 

Three Wise Men?

Rochdale AFC 3 - 1 Accrington Stanley FC

Journey:

Happy New Year. Christmas is over - well almost...

There is the small matter of that weird bit they tack on at the end which nobody really understands. 6th January - Epiphany. Apart from being tricky to say after a few festive sherry's - it marks the official date for the visit of the Three Kings - or if you prefer - Three Wise Men to the baby Jesus. Out of interest, it also marks the day when Christmas gifts are exchanged in Russia - I imagine this is so that they can take advantage of the January sales.

...and that is what everybody remembers - that the wise men brought good gifts. Gold, frankincense and myrrh. Or in modern currency - a Rolex, Chanel No. 5 & Armani Diamonds. The bible is somewhat mute on what the shepard's turned up with a few weeks earlier - but my money is on a family sized bag of Maltesers, a pine scented magic tree and a sack of charcoal - or whatever they could pick up at the local equivalent of Texaco.

Now I expect that at some stage someone has told you a variation on the theme of the 'Why didn't they have the first Christmas in Rochdale?' story. If you have missed out on this comic gem, the punchline is :- 'because they couldn't find three wise men and a virgin'.

Hysterical...

However, in our own very small way; Myself, Mr. Keane and Mr. Turner would seek to redress the balance in some measure today. And before you ask - we are doing the wise men bit - not the other bit. Well, Mr. Keane and I won't be doing the other bit.

By now the more observant of you will have realised the journey to Spotland today was completely uneventful - hence I had to create this rather over-elaborate pre-amble. The unvarnished facts were that I arrived twenty minutes early, Mr. Keane arrived just as the game kicked off and Mr. Turner had talked Mr. Culshaw into giving him another run out on hospital radio, no doubt to the unalloyed delight of the agued and maimed of the Borough.

You've got to wonder how this is all going to pay off really...

Weather:

Dreary.

Food:

Last week I made merry about the fact that the pie supplier at Port Vale sponsor the 4th officials board - which we were reminded of every time it made an appearance. Therefore imagine my self conscious embarrasment when it became clear that the match sponsor at Spotland today would be:- Clayton Park Pies - Rochdale's pie supplier. I was so humilliated that I had two meat and potato pies. I may never truly get over it.

Away Support:

This really doesn't make any sense to me. Apart from the Shakers, Stanley are pretty much our closest neighbours. Yet they only bring 2-300 to the game. In the away fixture there were over 1000 Dale fans at the Crown Ground. I do understand that their home gate is not fantastic - but considering that they would have to travel less distance than many people would cover to buy their weekly shopping - surely they would make the effort. Surely.

Action:

The big news today was that Will 'Shaker Maker' Buckley would be back in the starting line up. Apparently he has been suffering from the flu. Personally I don't buy it. Is it coincidental that players linked with moves away from clubs tend to succumb to flu as the transfer window opens? I think not.

Worryingly, Tom Kennedy was reported to be suffering from 'flu' over Christmas. Watch this space I guess. All that said, it is good to have the Shaker Maker back in the side for however long it may last. We have been missing something lately - perhaps he has brought something today.

At this point we turn to the first of our wise men. Mr. Keane. As he settled into his regular perch he made a prediction:

'We will get battered in the first half. They will score. We will get a penalty - and convert it. It will be 1-1 at half time. In the second half we will score 2 or 3. Job done.'

Now, I don't make predictions - I never have and I never will. But the words of 'Mystic Keane' certainly chimed with the facts of previous meetings with Accrington - and as events would prove, alarmingly on the button for today.

Accrington did indeed start much the stronger of the two teams. Stanley are a big, physical team who are not afraid to assert themselves. Don't misunderstand me - they are not thugs - they play some very tidy, incisive football - but they do put teams under instant pressure. Rochdale were not handling it well.

Misplaced passes, players caught in possession, second to the loose ball - not Dales best work by a long way. The only crumb of comfort Rochdale could take away from the first twenty minutes was that for all the pressure they were generating, Accrington had not managed to convert any of it into goals. But it had been a very close run thing.

We were definitely in need of something - enter the Shaker Maker.

Buckley picked up the ball just inside the Accrington half and proceeded to twist, turn, dazzle and bamboozle as he slipped past one Stanley player after another. Onward and onward he rolled - bursting into the Accrington box where he shaped to finish off a breathtaking few seconds of skill and endeavour. Having seen quite enough of this a red shirted defender decided to intervene - rather clumsily as it turned out - Mr. Webster had little option but to point to the spot. St. Adam once again did the honours. 1-0 Dale.

I would have felt embarrased that we had taken the lead against the run of play. But I didn't really get time. From the kick off Stanley carved Rochdale asunder - slicing straight through the midfield - the danger seemed to have been averted when a challenge from McArdle felled Gould on the edge of the area - but the ball broke loose and Miles pounced to blast it past Russell.

It really was a good job that Mr. Webster had already blown for the foul by McArdle. Off the hook - again. Well, not for long.

Cavanagh despatched the freekick goalwards and courtesy of a flick off LeFondre's head - it was in the back of the net. 1-1.

Half time was something of a mercy. The balance of the first half had seen a very lacklustre Rochdale side narrowly fend off Accrington. Stanley would leave the field feeling justly agrieved to have what looked like a very good penalty claim turned down after Rundle had palpably handled the ball.

Time for another wise man I think. Cue Mr. Turner.

I had sent him a text enquiring after his expert opinion on the progress of the game so far. He bluntly replied that Rochdale would win 3-1. Perhaps this was bravado - everything I had seen so far pointed to a pretty ignominious defeat - but he did seem very certain and there was Mr. Keane's prediction to consider as well. Perhaps it would all come good afterall.

Stanley began the second half strongly and but for a great tackle from Wiseman could have been justly in the lead. Encouragingly however, Rochdale seemed to have bucked their ideas up a bit as well. To underline the point, after ten minutes, they took the lead again.

LeFondre had won the ball on the edge of the Accrington area and fed it out towards Rundle who skipped round his defender and flashed the ball into the the area.

At this point - I introduce my final wiseman. Me.

As Rundle's pass sped into the box Mr. Keane was fulminating on the topic of why LeFondre hadn't gone back into the area - but more importantly, who indeed was Rundle's pass meant for? I raised my arm and pointing at the on-rushing black and blue shirt simply said - 'him'. Will Buckley gambolled into the area and clinically side footed the ball past Dunbavin in the Stanley goal. 2-1 Dale.

Buckley's goal proved to be something of a watershed. From that point Accrington looked like men who had been involved in some horrible travesty of justice - their hearts just didn't seem in it anymore.

The final insult came in the form of Kallum Higginbotham who had spent a month on loan at Accrington earlier in the season. On 87 minutes having twisted and turned his way through the Stanley rearguard, he cooly despatched a low drive under Dunbavin's body and into the back of the net. 3-1 Dale.

Prophesies fulfilled.

Summary:

Will Stanley feel cheated after today? - probably. Did they deserve better? - probably. Do I care? - no.

I have lost count of the number of times I have watched Rochdale dominate a game only to lose. I consider today a long overdue Christmas gift. I plan to enjoy it.

I am however a little concerned that Mr. Keane and Mr. Turner got clairvoyance for Christmas. I got a coat and some DVD's. Typical.

Turner Watch:

I am fairly sure that Kenneth Wolstenholme is spinning in his grave.

3/01/09

Failure to communicate

Accrington Stanley FC 1 - 3 Rochdale AFC

Journey:

Ever lost your mobile phone? I did the next best thing this weekend - I lost the charger - predictably the battery went dead on Friday night.

I spent years avoiding having one and this weekend I realised that I can't live without one. Simple operations like meeting people for a pint or organising a family meal become like highly elaborate logic problems. This is nothing to what it can do for organising an away trip - even if it is just to Accrington.

My first mistake was trying to be clever...

Today is Mrs. Eden-Maughan's birthday. I had deployed a clever strategy of leading her to believe that I wasn't buying her a present - because I am taking her on holiday next week. However, my cunning plan was to leave for the game a little early and pick up her present (a new camera) from Curry's - thus surprising and delighting her at my thoughtfulness when I got home again. Having picked up the camera I would speed on to Mr. Keane's - pick him and Keane jnr. up and head for Accrington.

There were of course problems. I was kept waiting in Curry's Rochdale branch for fifteen minutes to discover they didn't have the one I wanted - but no matter - the sales assistant assured me that a quick trip to their Oldham branch would see me right. Oldham didn't have one either. I was desperate by now...

A further ten minutes to find any camera that was in stock and fit the bill rolled by. Then another fifteen minutes to find the right case. Finally at 14:20 I stumbled back to my car - camera in hand. There was no time to pick up Mr. Keane now - I headed straight for the ground - under normal circumstances I would just ring him and let him know... but - no phone.

Having got to the ground I used Mr. Turner's phone to ring Mrs. Eden-Maughan to see if Mr. Keane had been in touch. He had. Of course she had told him I was on my way to pick him up - which of course I wasn't. This - was going to end badly.

I finally plucked up the courage to ring Mr. Keane on Mr. Turner's phone - he sounded less than happy. Much less than happy. Fortunately, he had decided to set off after waiting for me for almost an hour. Ten minutes into the game Mr. Keane and Keane jnr trudged into the ground with faces like the proverbial thunder cloud (albeit in Mr. Keane's case clad in another pair of designer shades - where does he get them all from?). I spent the rest of the game apologising.

Two lessons emerge from this little debacle:

1) Keep your mobile phone and essential accessories about your person at all times.

2) Do not try to organise overly elaborate surprises for your nearest and dearest - you'll be sorry.

Weather:

People rave about the north eastern United States in autumn, they gush about the southern African savannah lands at sunset, enthuse about the Amazon rainforest at dawn and emote about the Alps in winter.

All these places are pretty special, but...

Try driving around eastern Lancashire on a warm sunny day. Stunning.

Food:

A cheese burger and a coke - £6. It was a big burger, very big in fact - and very tasty, but at £6 we are getting into Wembley territory. Now let's be totally frank - The Crown Ground is not Wembley.

Ground:

It would be easy to criticize the Crown Ground - or Fraser Eagle Stadium as it prefers to be called these days - one Dale fan did just this with a rather bemused steward. My guess is that the steward wasn't empowered to commission major re-development of the ground - so I suppose the rant was pretty pointless.

Accrington have recently made the leap from the Conference and the Crown Ground is unashamedly a Conference ground. The away area is located behind one goal with an overspill area to the right - it is all open. On another day - another rainier day - I suspect I would have been less tolerant of the facillities. But, in the last of the late summer sunshine - it was ideal.

1200 Dale fans made the trip - probably all nursing mild sunburn to the left side of their faces by now.

Action:

Dale had got back to winning ways last week - albeit a little fortunately. Could the words 'Dale and 'back to back wins' appear in the same sentence by the final whistle? On paper at least Accrington should present less of a challenge than Chesterfield had - but as the game started only two points separated the sides in the league.

As it transpired only two minutes separated Dale from going behind.

Some inexplicably slack Dale defending allowed Stanley's Miles to tee up from twenty yards. A dipping, rocket of a shot cleared Russel and found the back of the net. 1-0 Stanley.

What followed was quite painful to watch. Having started poorly and conceded so early, Dale proceded to be systematically ripped apart by Accrington. Chance after chance came to Stanley and only Russel's gymnastics, some spirited but slightly disjointed Dale defending and some indifferent Accrington finishing kept the deficit to one goal.

Around thirty seven minutes the ball arrived at the feet of the Shaker Maker who did what he does best - charge the opposition defences. The consequences were predictable. An ill judged lunge from Stanley's scorer, Miles, saw Buckley sprawling in the box - Mr. Probert had little doubt about the penalty - St. Adam made no mistake. 1-1.

Bouyed by the goal, Dale began to get into gear and created a few more chances - but as half time was indicated, 1-1 it remained.

During the interval, The Playboy put in his now customary appearance. He also made a very valid observation. I am not the only person eligable to complete the 101 Project - The Playboy has also been to every game this season. On that basis he asked if he could have a 101 Project T-Shirt - I was seriously considering this when he ruined it by asking if they came in medium.

International man of mystery you may be Playboy - but a medium, never.

The second half started brightly for Accrington - some nice passing gave them a golden opportunity to take the lead, but once again a poor finish bedevilled them. This was Stanley's high water mark - from this point Dale took control of the game.

Rhodes, Jones, Buckley, Rundle and LeFondre all had chances to take the lead for Dale - but in spite of all the opportunities Accrington held firm. The frustration was evident amongst the Dale players - it seemed like the goal would never come. Thankfully the deadlock was broken on 57. The Shaker Maker - who else - drove down the right flank, cut inside and delivered a powerful low shot. Arthur in the Stanley goal simply couldn't get down quickly enough. 2-1 Dale.

As now seems to be the custom, Buckley disappeared into the adoring Dale crowd. Some minutes later, his team mates dragged him out.

Dagnall joined on sixty three and added to the Dale charge. The Accrington back four were really struggling with their off-side trap and the Dale attackers sprung it again, and again, and again - but in spite of all the pressure and chances, the third goal would not come.

Worryingly, Stanley were beginning to come back into the game and had created one or two chances to level the tie.

Nerves didn't stop jangling until the onset of injury time when Rhodes latched onto a ball from Thompson and after an inelegant scramble guided the ball into the goal. 3-1.

Final whistle.

'Dale record back to back wins in glorious late summer sunshine'. Well I did tell you...

Summary:

A bad, bad start - and a determined recovery against a Stanley side who were never really out of it. But for better finishing, Stanley could have been the winners here - that said, Dale could have come away 9-1 to the good - such was the number of chances that were created.

Based on an informal vote in the carpark (pron. 'corpork' in Accrington) - Will Buckley has been promoted to football genius.

Next week see's Rochdale invaded by the gentleman scholars of the Royal Borough of Dagenham for - El Classico Del Norte. We extend a warm welcome to Messers Evans, O'Shaughnessy and their camp followers.

Turner Watch:

Mr. Turner returns from his attempts to rescue the world financial markets to provide an excellent source of shade on what proved to be a very warm day.

28/09/08

He is the resurection

Rochdale AFC 4 - 1 Accrington Stanley FC

Journey:

Odd day today. I turned up for a game of pool in Manchester at lunchtime to find I was just the 24 hours late. Had a nice chat with the manager - a Rochdale lad. Came home.

I was just siting down with a brew when I was texted by Mr. Keane enquiring after my whereabouts. His concern was that with just 25 minutes to kick-off I hadn't yet arrived. I hadn't realised it was a 2pm start - I thought I had another hour.

Some fairly 'Starsky and Hutch' driving delivered me to Spotland in a little over 10 minutes.

The key point was that I had managed to remember to drag Lady Luck into the car as I sped on my way.

Food:

The oddness continued. At Mr. Keane's insistence our usual haunt in the Sandy was shunned in favour of the Pearl Street Stand. Two reasons:

£10 in for adults - £3 for nippers. It was Keane jr's birthday - and he had five of his friends with him.

I arrived to find Messers Keane and Mitchell wrangling an unruly mob of little people. The surprise inclusion of Ms. Bentley meant that we had unwittingly fielded seven dwarves - Ms. Bentley in her traditional role as 'Grumpy'.

I didn't get any food before the game - time did not permit. I did however venture forth on the 30 minute mark - and frankly I wished I hadn't.

The Sandy Patisserie is a model of ruthless efficiency - queues are a rare thing indeed. The Pearl Street Cafe is very different kettle of fish. I waited for 10 minutes to get within sight of the counter behind an ill assorted band of teenage boys. All of whom seemed entirely pre-occupied with punching each other in the arm and letting yet more of their pimply cohort into the line.

As I got near the front the true source of the delay became apparrent. Pretty girls behind the counter. Pretty girl + teenage boy = mumbling, dithery, nuisance. I waited for what seemed an eternity behind one such example who had to have the pie selection explained to him three times. It was all I could do not to punch him in the back of the head.

Come on RAFC! If we must let teenage boys into the ground - lets get bad tempered, matronly women behind the pie counter. That should move things along a treat.

Weather:

Cool and breezy and boy, oh boy what a sky. Definitely the man upstairs best work this season.

Away Support:

Accrington is 10 miles from Rochdale. Therefore the fact that only 200 or so made the 'epic' journey was a surprise. Pretty vocal during the first half. We were treated to 'Just a small town in Bury' and the factually inaccurate 'in the same league for 20 years' (36 probably didn't scan). Silent and incresingly absent during the second period.

Action:

I read Mr. Hill's fulminations over the Stockport game during the week. I could truly understand his frustration - Dale had dominated most of the game - but a moments loss of concentration and a further moments loss of judgement had seen all Dale's good work undone.

Today was potentially problematic. Accrington have not been on a good run - but then neither have Dale. Then you have to consider Dale's legendary home form of late - legendarily awful that is. The peel of a phallic, yellow fruit seemed to be waiting in the wings.

Presumably due to the enforced absence of young Higginbottom Mr. Hill had chosen to ring the changes. Dale sported an all new 4-3-3 line-up with Rundle, USS Howe and St. Adam of Le Fondre leading the line.

It really didn't work.

Dale's midfield of Jonah, Basham and Perkins found themselves squashed together and largely by passed by Accrington. The first five minutes yeilded two excellent chances for Stanley.

Dale soldiered on but seemed fundamentally uncomfortable in this formation and spent a good deal of the time giving the ball away or scrambling it clear. A few chances did come Dale's way but all of them were spurned. Mr. Keane began his wingers mantra - and was only silenced on pain of violence.

It came as no surprise around the 35 minute mark when the fabulously monikered Aswad Thomas played in Whalley for a tap in. 1-0 Accrington. Cue fruit.

Due to my extended trip to the pie queue I missed what followed - but I am told by the venerable Mr. Mitchell that little changed. Imagine my surprise when I finally returned from my ordeal by teenager - that Dale had a penalty!

St. Adam stepped up confidently, drew the keeper and slotted it straight down the middle. 1-1. Exit fruit - for now.

Half time was illuminated by small boys playing five-a-side. Not quite 'kick-it-in-the-bin' but better than nothing. As the interval unfolded I took a look at the match program. Pretty much every page covered some aspect of the career of one Gary 'Jonah' Jones - on account of him now having made the most appearances for Dale - ever. Not much I can add to this - he is a great competitor, a great player, a good and worthy captain. We would be a much poorer team without him.

Mr. Keane's wingers winging must have permeated the dressing room - because as the second half began Dale had returned to 4-4-2. Basham taking station on the right wing. The result was immediate and dramatic.

Minutes into the half Perkins crossed for Jones who drilled the ball home from ten yards. 2-1 Dale. The pressence of Basham on the right provided Dale with a brilliant outlet which had been so noticably absent in the first period. Dale continued to push forward and it was now Stanley's turn to look all-at-sea. A good running cross from Basham let Le Fondre in to make it 3-1 and when Perkins intercepted some pedestrian Stanley passing; Le Fondre was in again for his third and Dale's fourth. Cancel all fruit.

Stanley looked utterly shell-shocked. Even the late inclusion of the prodigal Leighton McGivern for Stanley couldn't brighten up their afternoon.

Jonah and St. Adam left the field with about ten minutes to go to a tumultuous standing ovation. Very well deserved to.

Summary:

A dodgy start: an excellent finish. Credit is due to the Dale defence during the first half for averting a potential disaster.

The switch to 4-4-2 for the second period saw some of the most incisive play from Dale I have seen all season. Basham, Rundle, Perkins and Jonah were as men transformed in the second half. USS Howe played his part brilliantly. Mr. Le Fondre was genuinely breathtaking. Only the third Dale hat-trick I have ever seen. Awesome.

Stand up if you're going to Notts County!

Turner Watch:

Who knows? Possibly fighting crime in a lycra outfit.

16/03/08