Cod Almighty | Match Report

by Mike Worden

5 April 2008

Rochdale 3 Grimsby Town 1

Not a painted face, air horn, balloon or jester hat in sight as the Town regulars gathered in deepest Lancashire. This is real football for real football fans where you can buy a pie and a cup of tea and still have change from a fiver. None of your rip off catering on offer at Spotland, just a trio of smiling ladies doing their best to please. "Wait there love I'll get a fresh carton of milk out of the fridge for you."

The Rochdale fans sang "Where's your Wembley fans?" We all know where they are. We'll see ‘em again in another ten years.

The rain fell on the humdrum town and then turned to sleet just before kick-off. A team in blue and a team in black and white stripes ran onto the pitch. Not all as it seemed however, as the team in black and white stripes were Rochdale and Grimsby in blue. The Rochdale kit, worn just for this season apparently, was almost identical to Town's home kit, which would prove unsettling for the rest of the game.

Wembley hero Barnes was skipper for the day. The Rochdale side included two ex-Mariners: Simon Ramsden at right-back and Lee Thorpe up front. The latter was booed by the Town fans, presumably for contribution to the relegation season. They also had a not so lumpy Gary Jones.

With sick notes floating around Blundell Park like confetti this week, Lord Buckley was forced into making significant changes to his Wembley side. In additon to Barnes, at the back were Bennett, Fenton and Newey with Clarke and Heggggggggarty out wide. In the middle of midfield were Toner, Hunt and Boshell, whilst upfront were Butler and the great blonde hope Nathan Jarman was given his chance to shine. Young starlet Matty Bird was perched on the bench.

First half
Town attacked the Sandy Lane end of the ground and their first effort was a smart volley from Nathan Jarman that Tommy Lee in the home goal dealt with comfortably. The first ten minutes were pretty much even but very much stop-start. A Bennett throw-in on the right came back to him and the young defender whacked a ball right across the face of the Rochdale goal. A Newey free kick was received by Butler but he lost possession and Rochdale broke away.

On 14 minutes, Hunt was booked for a foul on Higginbottom (now that's a real Rochdale name if ever there was one), and showed his annoyance. We should have all realised then that Mr McDermid was card happy and that the contents of his top pocket would have a significant bearing on the game.

The ref played the advantage when Butler was fouled on the halfway line but when offside was flagged for on the subsequent break, Town were given the free kick which came to nothing. Hegarty was penalised for a foul inside the Town half and from the free kick Rochdale hit the far post before Town managed to clear it.

Fenton defended well from another Dale attack, putting the ball out for a corner under pressure. Barnes caught the inswinging corner well. A little later Clarke and Bennet got into a mess and Rochdale take advantage and put a high ball into the box. Barnes came out to punch it away and took out Lee Thorpe. Rochdale put the ball back in and Bennett cleared off the line. Thorpe was still on the floor and after receiving treatment he limped off a little later to be replaced by Howe.

Just before the 30 minute mark, Hegarty had a good run down the left but was fouled. Clarke took the free kick but his hard shot bounced off the home wall and it was in this period that Town created a number of chances. A Newey free kick was floated in from the right but headed away and then Clarke ran forward from the right, hesitated as to what to do then gave the ball to Jarman who turned and shot just wide.

Just inside the Town half Hunt passed the ball to Toner but it was too short and Rochdale seized on to it and the attack resulted in a corner which Barnes caught comfortably.

Jarman had already committed one foul just in front of the Town fans but minutes later was booked for a foul on full-back Kennedy in the same place. A few minutes later the young striker was himself fouled by Perkins. Toner took the free kick and his shot hit the underside of the bar.

The foul by Perkins on Jarman may have had had an effect on the mind of the ex-Barnsley man as moments later he made a rash challenge on the Rochdale midfielder in the centre of the pitch. The referee went straight to his pocket and the afternoon was over for Jarman. Lord Buckley appeared not pleased with the way in which Jarman's opportunity to impress from the start had been taken and the player may have been reminded of his loan debut for nearby Bury in which he was sent off.

The remaining minutes of the first half were uneventful apart from the booing of Perkins by the Town fans.

Second half
The players emerged for the second half after what seemed like a longer than normal break. Town brought on Andy Taylor in place of Hunt with a clear indication that Buckley was not going to let being a man down hold the attack back. Within the first couple of minutes however the half-time plan had gone out of the window as Town went a goal behind.

Adam Rundle was given acres of space and time on the right to run, look up and pick out the unmarked Howe on at the far post who then had the simple job of heading past Barnes. A soft goal to concede with the Town defence still enjoying their half-time nap.

Rochdale were taking advantage of the extra man whilst Town were still trying to adjust to the formation that Buckley wanted them to adopt, particularly at the back where it wasn't clear who was supposed to be marking who.

Following a Town attack in which Taylor was caught a mile offside, Rochdale came forward down the left and a long pass from Higginbottom found Howe on the right who smashed a shot past Barnes with the Town fans screaming for offside. The referee and linesman were booed for allowing the goal to stand and when, a few minutes later, a Rochdale attack was adjudged to be offside, it was cheered by the Town fans along the side.

Town appeared to have given up the ghost and created very little in the middle period of the second half. Buckley had persevered with two up front but this left more space behind for Rochdale to take advantage of. Butler and Taylor were not combining well whilst in midfield Toner looked tired and short of pace and breath.

Dale top scorer Le Fondre was brought on and shortly after he was gifted a chance by Perkins but Barnes got down really well to smother the effort. Perkins, who looks about 15 but is ten years older, was involved in much of action and was spoken to by the ref for a challenge on a Town player. Being on a yellow card, manager Keith Hill decided to substitute him before he joined Jarman in the bath. Well, I am sure that Jarman was out of the bath and towelled down at this stage, but you know what I mean.

With just five minutes of the game left, Hegarty got hold of the ball on the left, decided to attack and found it was quite easy if you just had a go. A stepover, then a run into the box and then a floated cross found the head of Andy Taylor who put the ball into the net in almost slow motion. The goal sparked Town into life and Buckley threw on the Lumpy one for Clarke in an attempt to get a point. Lump ran on indicating 3-3-3 with his fingers, as Town did what they should have done much earlier and went for it.

The blue shirts then put pressure on the Dale defence. Boshell shot high when he should have done better and yet another Newey free kick was cleared. 3 minutes of added time was announced and Barnes ran up to join a Town attack. The Wembley hero screamed for the ball as he was ideally placed to shoot but Toner wouldn't pass to him and it went to Fenton instead who shot went well over the bar. With Town pressing for the equaliser and seconds left the ball broke and a cross from the left to the right saw Howe squeeze a shot between Barnes and the post to complete his hat-trick.

This was a poor Town performance that wasn't brilliant before Jarman was sent off just before half time. Rochdale are not that good a side but they could have and should have added to their tally. There were numerous times that the Town defence wasn't sure about who was to pick up which players. Sometimes Newey and Hegarty would look at each other and point to space or a Rochdale player.

Generally the absence of some of the more experienced players didn't help but overall this was a disappointing display. Only when Hegarty set up Taylor with five minutes left did Town start to look positive and the introduction of the Lumpy one was too late. Ah well. It's all over now and we can look forward to August.

Walking back to the car a Lancastrian bloke turned to me and said, a bit prematurely in my book, "we're off to Wembley now". "Not for us, mate" I said. "You won't like it anyway" I added, "Spotland is the real football experience and I want to be back here next season."