If it takes 2 to tango on Strictly Come Dancing it certainly takes 2 to make for a rip roaring cup tie and with the home side seemingly happy to play for a draw a classic this certainly was not. Barnet never really came out of a very defensive 4-5-1 shell and if their aim was a trip up the motorways of England for an appointment at Spotland then they achieved it but not before contributing to a game that rarely caused Dale boss Keith Hill to be enthralled by it's entertainment levels.

" That system has been successful for Barnet away from home when they have scored a lot of goals of late. That was Paul Fairclough quandary -does he stick with it at home where they haven't been scoring as regularily? It is quite negative and it is there for them to spring counter attacks but they didn't really come out and do that. Let's be honest the game was forgettable. It was there for us to win and it took a deflection falling at someones feet to deny us"

" We have extended our unbeaten run so that is a positive and we are in the draw on Sunday and we can take Barnet back to our place. It is a long midweek journey for Barnet and do they really want that? My answer is probably no. Extra time and penalties here would have been better and we should have had a conclusion because again the replay represents an expense for Barnet that they will find difficult to incur."

"  I expect to win games like this though. I don't know if I am being arrogant- I don't mean to be- but I expect the players to perform to win and I was disappointed with the performance."

Dale started the game as they would continue it enjoying the bulk of possession and all the chances but failed to turn their superiority into goals as they couldn't break down a determined but well manned Barnet back line.

On 3 minutes after good work by Scott Wiseman, Lee Thorpe saw his effort defelcted wide and the big striker shot over from 20 yards 2 minutes late. On 14 minutes after a cross from Adam Rundle had taken a defelction veteran keeper Lee Harrison produced a back pedalling tip over. CIaran Toner then benefitted from a lovely Tom Kennedy flick but shot straight at Harrison.

On  31 minutes after good work by Thorpe and Will Buckley winger Adam Rundle skied the best chance of the half, another great piece of work from Buckley 2 minutes later saw his cross fizz across the face of goal and just before the break after powerful link play by Thorpe another cross this time from Rundle flashed by unfinished.

The breakthrough came on 48 minutes as Dale turned the screw and Gary Jones out on the right produced the perfect cross and saw it well gobbled up from close range by Chris Dagnall.

Dale lost Nathan Stanton to an ankle injury on 55 minutes but with Marcus Holness slotting in at the back they continued to look comfortable under an out of the blue equaliser arrived. a short free kick was laid off to Nicky Devedics whose mishit shot cannoned off Rory mcArdle and fell invitingly for Ismail Yakubu to blast.

Having restored the draw they had apparently set out for Barnet sat back even deeper but the vistors could not find a winner. Dagnall flashed a shot narrowly wide, Toner blazed over when he should have done better and Mark Jones tested Harrison from distance.

The draw for the second round will take place during ITV's live coverage tomorrow lunchtime at around 1.45pm with the Dale/Barnet ball being number 33

Teams
Barnet:- Harrison, Devera (Deverdics 29) (Birchall 82) Yakubu, Townsend, Gillet, Adaomah, Leary, Bishop, Porter, Nicolau (St Aimee 80)
Subs nu Medley, Carew, Burge, Kadoch
Dale:- Russell, Wiseman, Stanton ( Holness 56) McArdle, Kennedy, Buckley, Jones, Toner, Rundle (JonesM 81),Dagnall, Thorpe (Shaw 72)l