Tuesday 21st March 2006- KO 7.45pm

2

Grimsby Town

2

1

Matt Gilks

1

Steve Mildenhall

18

Simon Ramsden 68

2

John McDermott

5

Gareth Griffiths

3

Tom Newhey

15

Rory McArdle

6

Justin Whittle

3

Tony Gallimore

5

Ben Futcher

4

Ernie Cooksey

7

Jean-Paul Kalala

12

John Doolan 87

15

Gary Cohen 57

11

Gary Jones

8

Paul Bolland

10

Iyseden Christie

9

Michael Reddy 90

17

Ricky Lambert

19

Gary Jones

24

Mark Jackson 75

18

Cieran Toner

Substitutes

6

Jon Boardman 75

12

Rob Jones 90

7

Lee Cartwright 68

20

Gary Croft

21

Ben Kitchen

31

Junior Mendes 57

14

Scott Warner

10

Marc Goodfellow

9

Chris Dagnall 87

11

Andy Parkinson

SCORERS

BOOKINGS

Jackson 23

Futcher 35, Reddy 80, Newey 90

Stuart Ashworth at Spotland

 Dale came back after twice failing behind to visitors Grimsby Town with what Mariners boss Russell Slade dubbed as 'freakish' goals.

Freakish perhaps, but fully deserved as Dale looked more like the side needing a win to top the table as they kept an in form Grimsby side very very quiet.

Dale boss Steve Parkin made a brave decision to go 4-4-2 with players playing out of position, namely Simon Ramsden as a right winger and centre-half Rory McArdle wide on the right of defence.

With nine minutes on the clock a right wing cross from Iyseden Christie caused all sorts of problems inside the Grimsby box.  His delivery fell just short of Ernie Cooksey and he could only nudge the ball onto Whittle who blocked on the line.

Rochdale were looking good in the early stages and almost creating another chance after a Gallimore cross was  headed goalwards by Ramsden.  It would have been a simple stop by Mildenhall had the ball not flopped in the , no bounce 'keeper

All the home sides endeavours were undone on 22 minutes as a ball down the left wing had Mark Jackson and Michael Reddy wrestling as they run with Reddy going down in the box and referee Mr Hill pointed straight to the spot.

A minute after the arguements Toner stepped up to hammer the ball into the bottom left corner.

Despite the setback Rochdale contnued to press and the lively Iyseden Christie almost brought the scores level on 25 minutes.  The former Kidderminster man wriggled through the attentions of two Town defenders before driving a low shot that 'keeper Mildenhall managed to guide away with his shin.

The chances were all falling the way of the home side and Dale skipper Gary Jones was unlucky to see his effort from 12-yards blocked after Christie had guided a Tony Gallimore cross into his path with his head three minutes later.

Just before the break Iyseden Christie was guilty of squandering a great chance to toast an equaliser with a half-time cup of tea.  Christie raced onto a superb ball through the middle before going in one-on-one with the 'keeper.  Christie with the goal at his mercy only managed to find the foot of Mildenhall and the ball deflected wide of the target.

Rochdale came out in the second half on fire, spending the majority of the opening putting Grimsby on the back foot.  Man-of-the-match Rickie Lambert went close on 50 minutes with a curling right footed effort that flew the wrong side of the far post.

Dale weren't to be denied though and just a minute later Simon Ramsden popped up to fire home an equaliser so fully deserved.  Rickie Lambert curled in a wicked right foot freekick that hit the ground in front of Mildenhall.  The ball skipped up and surprised the stopper, hitting him in the chest.  Ramsden was quickest to the loose ball and hooked the ball into the net while protests rang out for a penalty after Griffiths was bundled over when the initial freekick came in.

With their tails up and confidence high the home side continued in a relentless onslaught to take the lead.  As the half wore on Rochdale had two massive shouts for penalties after two handballs were waved away by referee Hill much to the annoyance of the home support.

With Grimsby pegged back and failing to mount anything in the way of attacking the Rochdale goal, Rochdale earned a corner that brought them so close to taking the lead.  18-year-old Rory McArdle rose well to connect to a Rickie Lambert corner from the right with strong header that hit Dale's Ernie Cooksey in the back, preventing it from going in.

That bit of luck you need when you're battling for points looked lost and on 82 minutes the kick in the teeth arrived via Paul Bollard's boot.  Grimsby, to be fair, had mounted something of a comeback towards the end on and as Dale failed to convincingly clear a corner, Bollard curled a fine shot past Gilks, nestling in the back of the net just inside the far stick.

Steve Parkin responded by bringing off John Doolan after another disappointing display and switching to a 4-3-3 formation with the introduction of Chris Dagnall. 

Chances came, chances went and it looked like it wasn't going to be Dale's night as every goalmouth scramble was blocked and every opportunity went begging. 

Parkin's final throw of the dice came as he pushed Gareth Griffiths into attack for the final few minutes in a bid to take something from a game so richly deserved. 

Grimsby wasted as much time as they could, taking the ball into the corners and making a very late subsititution, but it was to no avail in the end, the chance to go top was taken away in the dying seconds.

Rickie Lambert curled a dangerous corner from the right into crowded penalty box and with players jostling the ball evaded everyone before dropping in the goal, sparking massive celebration amongst the Dale faithful.

It would have been rough on Rochdale to have lost this one and they should take a gutsy performance into the derby clash with Bury at the weekend. 

Praise to for the manager who made not only a brave decision in his team selection, but put the fire in the bellies of the players after a poor showing at the weekend.

Match Stats

Rochdale

Grimsby Town

ATTEMPTS

14

ATTEMPTS

6

ON TARGET

9

ON TARGET

4

FREEKICKS

23

FREEKICKS

16

CORNERS

8

CORNERS

4

OFFSIDE

6

OFFSIDE

4

YELLOW CARDS

1

YELLOW CARDS

3

RED CARDS

0

RED CARDS

0

POSSESSION

51%

POSSESSION

49%

Star Player

Rochdale

Grimsby Town

Rickie Lambert

Michael Reddy

Always a threat and 'won' a dubious penalty for his sides first.

Managers Comments in Brief

Steve Parkin

Russell Slade

"We played with endeavour and would have won this game comfortably but for some wrong decisions by the officials."

"We failed to go top because of two 'freakish' goals."

Don't forget the goals, post match interviews and much, much more are available on Rochdale AFC's premium website DALE WORLD.

If you haven't got your subscription yet then you're missing out on LIVE match commentaries, video highlights from every game, interviews and huge library of video clips with thousands to choose from.

Get closer to the heart of Rochdale AFC

Get your DALE WORLD subscription now!