Dale extended their lead at the top of League Two to eight points after an emphatic victory over Rotherham at Spotland.
Chris Dagnall opened the scoring inside ten minutes with his 16th of the season in a first half which Dale were lucky to come out on top in after Rotherham had numerous strong chances to score themselves.
However, after the break Dale took complete control, but they were helped on their way after a horrendous mix-up in the Millers defence led to Jamie Green being the unfortunate man to take credit for the own goal.
Craig Dawson bagged his 11th of the season and Dale's third with a fine header from a corner before Chris O'Grady netted his 19th with a superbly placed finish for Dale's fourth.
Keith Hill made two changes to the side that came out on top at Macclesfield on Saturday, both of which were forced. Scott Wiseman came off injured after an hour so Nathan Stanton starts, although he moved into the middle to partner Craig Dawson whilst Rory McArdle moved to right-back. Ciaran Toner in for Jason Taylor was the other change, with Taylor ineligible to play as he is on loan from Rotherham.
This meant Frank Fielding, who is due to join the England under-21 squad tomorrow, started in goal, with McArdle, Stanton, Dawson and Tom Kennedy making up the back four. Gary Jones and Jason Kennedy were in the centre of midfield, with Will Atkinson and Ciaran Toner on the wings. Chris Dagnall and former Rotherham man Chris O'Grady made up the front three. Adam Le Fondre was in the starting line-up for Rotherham alongside Tom Pope, the two goalscorers against Dale at the Don Valley Stadium back in August.
There was no doubting that this was one of Dale's biggest games of the season so far. A win would take Keith Hill's side 8 points clear at the top of League Two, extending the gap between themselves and Ronnie Moore's Rotherham. Therefore, whoever took the lead would put themselves in good stead for the remainder of the match.
However, Dale almost fell behind within the first minute when a Rory McArdle error allowed Kevin Ellison an effort on goal. McArdle misjudged his header which allowed the former Chester man in, but he dragged his shot from an angle just past Frank Fielding's left post.
That early effort was a sign of intent from The Millers who started the game well as they passed the ball around looking for openings. However, in the 9th minute of the game and with their first real chance of the game, Dale took the lead through Chris Dagnall.
Good link up play between Will Atkinson and Chris O'Grady on the right led to the latter firing a right-footed ball across the face of goal. The ball took a slight deflection into the path of Dagnall who caught the ball well and powered it past Rotherham 'keeper Andy Warrington for his 16th of the season.
Taking that early advantage was exactly what Dale needed. It was first blood to the home side and meant Ronnie Moore's side had to do the pressing in order to get back into the game.
However, it could have a two minute double for Dale when Tom Kennedy whipped in a free kick from the right to the back post where the deadly Craig Dawson was waiting. He rose highest to nod the ball at goal, but Warrington denied the Dale centre-half with a save down low.
Despite that early lead Rotherham always looked dangerous going forward and former Dale man Adam Le Fondre always produced a roar from the travelling fans when he was in possession. Where The Millers looked especially dangerous was from set pieces, and only a strong save from Frank Fielding denied a Nick Fenton header with 13 minutes gone.
Frank Fielding was needed again less than a minute later when Josh Walker tried his luck from distance, with the Dale stopper turning the ball around the post. From the resulting corner Gavin Gunning got his head on the ball, but this time he couldn't trouble Fielding as his header went wide.
Rotherham were clearly looking for an instant equaliser and Dale began to weather a mini Yorkshire storm. Good link up play between Tom Pope and Kevin Ellison led to Ellison unleashing a shot from the edge of the area which Fielding had to get to again to turn the ball wide.
A big blow for Rotherham came in the 23rd minute when their captain Ian Sharps had to be replaced by Jamie Green due to an injury.
That substitution did seem to upset the Millers defence for the moments following it, with Will Atkinson causing instant problems for their new left back Jamie Green. However, Dale didn't take advantage of that as the game began to even out once again.
With little over half an hour played, Craig Dawson gave away a free-kick inside his own half for a foul on Adam Le Fondre which brought him his first yellow card of his professional football career.
Chris O'Grady was causing problems against his former team and his it was his strength that won Dale a free kick in a dangerous area. Tom Kennedy took the set piece which he fired at goal and produced a great save from Andy Warrington as he tipped the ball over the bar for a corner kick.
There were a few more probes forward for either side as the clock ticked towards half-time, but the referee blew for the interval after the one minute of added time was up with the score at 1-0 to Dale.
A start to the second half like the first would have suited Dale down to the ground and just a minute in Chris O'Grady forced a corner, but Jason Kennedy, still awaiting his first goal for Dale, caught his volley horribly wrong as it rolled out for a goal kick.
The opening minutes of the half were promising for Dale as they forced Rotherham onto the back foot early on. Gary Jones was next to try his luck with a volley from distance and he coped better than his midfield partner, but his shot flew just over Warrington's crossbar.
Rotherham reacted to this early pressure and came close on two occasions within a minute of each other. First, Danny Harrison's effort from distance was superbly tipped round the post by Frank Fielding and from the resulting corner Tom Kennedy had to be alert on the line as he headed away an Adam Le Fondre flick on at the near post.
A second booking of the game for Dale was shown to Tom Kennedy in the 52nd minute when he fouled Adam Le Fondre as the Millers dangerman looked to break free of the Dale defence.
As the half progressed the Dale midfielders were becoming more adventurous as Jason Kennedy and Ciaran Toner both had half chances for the home side. Kennedy's came courtesy of a clever interception before quick feet saw him drive into the box before being denied by a good tackle from Danny Harrison. Toner then tried a shot from 35 yards, but the midfielder, on his first start of the season for Dale, got the half volley all wrong as it went well wide.
With 20 minutes gone in the second half Dale were the side on top, but it looked like they would need to take one of their chances if they were to make the pressure count. As it turned out, they didn't. A calamitous error from Rotherham's Gavin Gunning led to an own goal from substitute Jamie Green.
Chris O'Grady had the ball on the left and played the ball across goal to the back post where Gunning tried to clear. However, he could only smash the ball at the helpless Green and the ball bounced off him and into the back of the Rotherham goal, with Andy Warrington unable to do anything about it.
The fortuitous nature of the goal lifted the spirits and eased some of the pressure inside Spotland and with twenty minutes left of the game, those spirits were raised even higher when Craig Dawson scored his 11th goal of the season. A corner from Tom Kennedy was swung to the back post where the 19 year old, who signed a contract extension on Thursday, rose highest to nod the ball into the far corner to kill of the game with a long time remaining.
That third goal saw some of the Rotherham fans exit the stadium, but those who did stay saw a fourth Dale goal, and it was their former striker Chris O'Grady who scored it.
A long ball forward from the Dale defence flew over the Rotherham defence and into the path of O'Grady who was onside. His first touch was good and although Gavin Gunning was able to catch up with O'Grady, he controlled the ball and picked out his spot at the far post, placing the ball past Andy Warrington with ease for his 19th goal of a tremendous season.
With Dale 4-0 up Keith Hill's side could have been excused for taking their foot off the pedal, but that was far from the case and they could have had a fifth goal when fine play from Will Atkinson launched a Dale counter attack. He drove at the Rotherham defence and played in Chris O'Grady, but his first time shot was eventually gathered by Andy Warrington.
Rotherham were starting to string together some good passes although it was a little too late for Ronnie Moore's side. If anyone was looking like scoring the next goal it would be Dale again, and after a good effort from Gary Jones from distance was palmed out by Andy Warrington, he had to be up straight away to deny Chris Dagnall with a superb reaction stop when Dagnall looked favourite to come out on top.
There would be three minutes of added time for Dale to see out and just thirty seconds into that Rory McArdle wanted a piece of the action as he unleashed a shot from distance which Andy Warrington was able to pick up on the second occasion such was the ferocity of the strike.
Added time was seen away comfortably by Keith Hill's side to the delight of the Dale fans inside Spotland as they saw their team move eight points clear at the summit of League Two.
Dale will have another chance to get three points on the board and extend their lead further on Saturday against Lincoln. Be there.
Dale: Fielding, McArdle, Stanton, Dawson, T Kennedy, Jones, Toner, J Kennedy, Atkinson, O'Grady, Dagnall.
Rotherham: Warrington, Harrison, Sharps, Fenton, Pope, Law, Lynch, Ellison, Gunning, Walker, Le Fondre.
Attendance: 3,502.
Referee: Steve Tanner (Somerset). Assistant Referees: Kevin Hayward (Staffordshire) & Billy Khatib (Tyne & Wear). Fourth Official: Peter Wright (Merseyside).
