Preview | Shrewsbury Town (H)

8 March 2019

Rochdale v Shrewsbury Town | Crown Oil Arena, Sky Bet League One, Saturday 9th March 2019, 3pm Kick-Off

Brian Barry-Murphy will take charge of Dale this weekend, who welcome Shrewsbury Town to the Crown Oil Arena in Sky Bet League One.

Last weekend’s defeat at league leaders Luton Town leaves Dale five points from safety with 11 games remaining.

The Shrews are in 17^th place, six points ahead of Dale. The match between the sides earlier in the season ended 3-2 to Saturday’s visitors.

PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW

Barry-Murphy says he hopes he can bring the the Club and players closer to the fans during his time in charge.

Click HERE to read what he had to say ahead of the game, or watch his full interview for FREE HERE.

OPPOSITION VIEW

Shrewsbury manager Sam Ricketts spoke to the press ahead of the game.

“We aren’t sure what to expect now with them changing manager,” said Ricketts. “That puts everything in the air.”

Click HERE to read what he had to say on Shrewsbury's official website.

TEAM NEWS

Dale welcome back Ethan Ebanks-Landell from suspension, but will lose Ethan Hamilton, after he was sent off at Luton Town last weekend.

Barry-Murphy has given an injury update on Ollie Rathbone, Kgosi Ntlhe and Zach Clough. Click HERE to read what his update.

ADMISSION DETAILS

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

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.

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 Shrewsbury Town fan making your way to the Crown Oil Arena for Saturday’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 kick-off. It's our Pirates and Princesses event! Click HERE for full details.

Don't forget to give our mascot a warm reception! Click HERE to view our preview of what the Community Trust have on.

The Ratcliffe Bars, situated on the Crown Oil Arena car park, are open to both home and away supporters from midday.

POST-MATCH

There is a FREE Extra Time At The Dale event after the game, with a Robbie Williams tribute act in the Carlsberg Lounge!

Doors open straight after the full-time whistle. Click HERE for full details.

REF WATCH

Referee | John Brooks

Assistant Referees | Robert Hyde & Shaun Hudson

Fourth Official | Robert Merchant

HEAD TO HEAD

Dale	Draws	Shrewsbury Town
23	10	16

MATCH ODDS

Sky Bet are offering odds of 9/5 for a Dale win on Saturday.

Click HERE for the full betting preview.

FLASHBACK

Goals from Ollie Rathbone, Steven Davies and Ian Henderson secured a 3-1 win over Shrewsbury Town at the Crown Oil Arena last season.

Click HERE to watch including highlights.

MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

Rochdale AFC’s matchday programme – The Voice of Spotland – is back on Saturday, with Stephen Dooley 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.

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.

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 2-1 Shrewsbury Town

9 March 2019

Brian Barry-Murphy’s first game in charge of Dale ended in a 2-1 win over Shrewsbury Town at the Crown Oil Arena.

Kgosi Ntlhe put Dale in front after 15 minutes, before Jim McNulty doubled the lead minutes after half-time.

The visitors pulled a goal back in added time through Greg Docherty, before heroics from Andy Lonergan and the width of a crossbar prevented Shrewsbury from snatching a point.

Brian Barry-Murphy named four changes to the starting line-up for his first game in charge. Ryan McLaughlin, Kgosi Ntlhe and Ollie Rathbone all returned from injury, with Ethan Ebanks-Landell returning from suspension.

The visitors had the first two efforts of the game, both from range, which were sent well wide from Greg Docherty and Oliver Norburn.

Ian Henderson flicked a header wide from an Ebanks-Landell diagonal ball, shortly before Ntlhe sent a dipping half-volley goalwards which had to be tipped over by Shrewsbury goalkeeper Steven Arnold.

Ntlhe went one better from the resulting corner. Inman’s delivery was partially cleared to Ntlhe, who sent a right-footed half-volley in to the far corner.

The visitors responded with efforts wide from Fejiri Okenabirhie, Ryan Haynes and Shaun Whalley, before Okenabirhie’s dangerous cross was inches away from being turned home.

Dale had the best chance to the score the next goal before the break, when Callum Camps’ swerving free-kick was beaten away by Arnold straight into the path of Henderson, who could only turn over the crossbar from six yards.

A succession of Shrewsbury set-pieces were well dealt with by the Dale defence, as Andy Lonergan turned behind a Whalley free-kick before saving Luke Waterfall’s header from the resulting corner.

MJ Williams fired an effort off target with the final act of the opening period, but it was the first act of the second-half that saw Dale double their lead.

Joe Bunney delivered a low free-kick from the left to Ntlhe, whose shot was saved by Arnold, but McNulty was on hand to turn home the rebound from close range.

On-loan goalkeeper Lonergan produced a superb save from Omar Beckles’ header, before holding well from a Tyrese Campbell effort from just outside the area.

Bunney saw a dangerous cross turned behind at the far post, before Henderson was denied by the feet of Arnold after he had latched on to Bunney’s ball over the top.

Lonergan held on to headers from Aaron Amadi-Holloway and Beckles, but the visitors halved the deficit in added time when Docherty finished a low ball from the right.

In the final minute of five added on, Lonergan made a fine one handed save to deny a strike, before the rebound came back off the underside of the bar and Waterfall fired wide, which signalled full-time, as Barry-Murphy got his tenure off to the perfect start.

Standings