Preview | Wycombe Wanderers (H)

18 April 2019

Rochdale v Wycombe Wanderers | Crown Oil Arena, Sky Bet League One, Good Friday (19th April) 2019, 3pm Kick-Off

Dale kick-off of the Easter holiday weekend with the visit of Wycombe Wanderers in Sky Bet League One.

Both sides are still in the battle to avoid relegation, with just two points separating them.

Despite defeat at Portsmouth last time out, Dale remain outside the relegation zone by a point, whilst victory for Wycombe over Southend United saw them jump up to 17^th in the table.

PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW

Brian Barry-Murphy says there is a lot to be positive and confident about ahead of the game.

Click HERE to read what he had to say, or HERE to watch his interview in full.

OPPOSITION VIEW

Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth said: "These are all tough games now, with some clubs getting dragged into it at the bottom, but we’ve been in the battle all along and we’re ready to fight our way out."

Click HERE to read what he had to say in full on Wycombe's official website.

TEAM NEWS

Barry-Murphy has confirmed that Kgosi Ntlhe trained this week after missing last week's match at Portsmouth, whilst Rekeil Pyke has also returned to training following his injury lay off.

ADMISSION DETAILS

It is pay on the day at the Crown Oil Arena on Friday.

Supporters can pay through the turnstiles for the Pearl Street Stand, the Sandy Lane and the away stand. However, supporters wishing to sit in the Main Stand must purchase a ticket from the RAFC Ticket Office before going to the turnstiles.

Normal league prices apply for the fixture. They can be found HERE.

BRING A FRIEND VOUCHER

Season ticket holders who still have ‘bring a friend vouchers’ in the back of their book can use them at either of our final two home games.

To redeem the voucher(s), all you need to do is bring the voucher to the RAFC Ticket Office, either in the run up to the game, or on the day of the fixture. These cannot be redeemed at the turnstile or online, and can only be redeemed once.

Click HERE for more information.

FIRST TIME VISITOR GUIDE

Are you a first-time visitor to the Crown Oil Arena? Click HERE for all of the information you may need in order to plan your visit and make the most of the matchday experience at Rochdale Football Club!

AWAY SUPPORTERS’ GUIDE

If you are a Wycombe Wanderers fan making your way to the Crown Oil Arena for Friday’s game, click HERE and have a read of our Visiting Supporters’ Guide which is packed full of useful information!

PRE-MATCH

There’s a FREE Junior Event in the Carlsberg Lounge before Friday’s game, where youngsters can make their own coasters! Click HERE for full details.

The Ratcliffe Bars, situated on the Club's car park, open at midday on Friday.

Click HERE to view our preview of what the Community Trust have on.

REF WATCH

Referee | Andy Haines

Assistant Referees | Wayne Grunnill & Geoffrey Liddle

Fourth Official | Steven Rushton

MATCH ODDS

Sky Bet are offering odds of 6/4 for a Dale win on Good Friday.

Click HERE for the full betting preview.

MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

Rochdale AFC’s matchday programme – The Voice of Spotland – is back on Friday, with Jim McNulty as the cover star!

Purchase from the Club Shop and around the ground on matchday for just £3. Click HERE to read the full preview.

FLASHBACK

Three goals in the opening 15 minutes secured all three points for Dale on Wycombe's last visit to the Crown Oil Arena.

Click HERE to watch highlights from the win.

WE’VE GOT IT COVERED

Fans in the UK can listen to match audio commentary on iFollow, whilst overseas supporters can watch the match live! The programme will start at 2.45pm.

Click HERE to subscribe to iFollow.

The match will NOT be available to stream in the UK.

To access commentary/watch live via your desktop, click on the 'iFollow' tab on our navigation bar. Hover over the 'More' tab and more selections will appear, which is where the 'iFollow' tab is located. Once you’ve clicked through, a link will appear on the left-hand side of the page for you to access the commentary. This will appear on the site around half an hour before kick-off.

We will be tweeting live updates from the match and will go behind-the-scenes with our Instagram Story feature. Follow @officiallydale (Twitter and Instagram).

Match Previews

Match Reports

Report | Dale 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers

19 April 2019

Ian Henderson’s 79^th minute goal secured a 1-0 victory over Wycombe Wanderers at the Crown Oil Arena.

He slammed home his 20th of the season from close range, after Aaron Wilbraham's looping header had struck the underside of the bar and Rekeil Pyke saw an effort superbly saved.

The win sees Dale move above Wycombe into 17^th place, three points clear of the relegation zone.

Brian Barry-Murphy made one change from last weekend’s game at Portsmouth, as Kgosi Ntlhe returned to the starting eleven, replacing Ethan Hamilton.

The visitors created the first half-chances in quiet opening to the game, with Adebayo Akinfenwa heading well wide before playing a ball over the top for Scott Kashket, who was denied by a strong Josh Lillis hand on the edge of the area.

He then held on to a weak effort from Alex Samuel, before getting down well to hold Akinfenwa’s header.

Ryan McLaughlin was replaced by Jimmy Keohane shortly after the half hour mark, after the Northern Irishman picked up a knock.

The half sprang into life inside the final few minutes, with Kashket seeing a deflected effort cannon off the face of the crossbar, before Lillis made a crucial save to deny Samuel one-on-one.

Dale’s best chance of the opening period came when Ollie Rathbone won the ball in midfield and drove forward, before crossing for Ian Henderson who sent a cushioned left-foot volley over the crossbar.

Keohane saw a left-foot effort deflected over the crossbar shortly after the break, before Lillis made a fine save from Akinfenwa and Jim McNulty got back on his own goal line to turn a Samuel effort over the crossbar, after he had rounded Lillis.

Nick Freeman saw a back-post header held by Lillis and Sido Jombati had an effort deflected wide for the visitors, whilst Rathbone and Wilbraham fired efforts off target for Dale.

Henderson had a shot blocked behind from Done’s knockdown, shortly after Pyke replaced Ntlhe, and he had a huge hand in Dale’s winner.

He saw an effort saved by the legs of Ryan Allsop before the ball was swung back into the area, where Wilbraham’s header came off the underside of the bar and back out to Pyke.

The substitute had an effort wonderfully saved by Allsop, but Henderson was on hand to slam home from close range for his 20th of the season.

It was backs to the wall for Dale from then on, as Calvin Andrew replaced Henderson and Joe Bunney put in a superb last-ditch tackle in six minutes of added time.

The final action of the game saw Wycombe’s Jombati poke wide from the edge of the six-yard box, before referee Andy Haines called time much to jubilant celebrations inside the Crown Oil Arena.

Standings