Preview | Fleetwood Town (A) - Checkatrade Trophy Northern Group B

9 October 2018

Fleetwood Town v Rochdale | Highbury Stadium, Checkatrade Trophy Northern Group B, Tuesday 9th October 2018, 7.45pm Kick-Off

Dale’s Checkatrade Trophy campaign continues on Tuesday night with a trip to Fleetwood Town.

A 2-1 win over Bury in the opening group game saw Dale go top of Northern Group C, as Fleetwood gained a point but lost of penalties to Leicester City Under-21s.

PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW

Keith Hill spoke to iFollow ahead of Tuesday night’s game. Read his thoughts on the game HERE, or watch the interview in full on iFollow HERE. You can also view our social snippet of his interview below.

🎥🗣️ Keith Hill offers his thoughts on Tuesday night's @CheckatradeTrpy fixture at Fleetwood Town... 👇 #RAFC pic.twitter.com/aCVzEVCoAm
— Rochdale AFC (@officiallydale) October 8, 2018

OPPOSITION VIEW

Former Dale man Ashley Eastham has spoken about the game, saying: “Tuesday is important for us. We want to keep the momentum going and keep the feel good factor in the camp. We have two home games this week that we want to go and win.”

Click HERE to read what he had to say on Fleetwood’s official website.

ADMISSION DETAILS

Supporters can pay on the night at Highbury Stadium. Tickets must be purchased from Fleetwood’s Main Ticket Office before going to the turnstiles.

Click HERE for prices.

HIGHBURY STADIUM

For directions to Highbury Stadium on Fleetwood’s official website, please click HERE.

Full address | Highbury Stadium, Park Avenue, Fleetwood, Lancashire, FY7 6TX.

COMPETITION SO FAR

Dale picked up maximum points in the first game of the competition against Bury, on a night when history was made.

Luke Matheson became Dale’s youngest ever player at the age of 15 years and 336 days, as goals from Zach Clough and Matty Gillam secured a 2-1 victory over Bury.

COMPETITION RULES

If the scores are level after 90 minutes, a penalty shootout will take place to determine who takes the bonus point on offer.

Penalty shootouts also return to the traditional format of ‘ABAB’.

REF WATCH

Referee | Ross Joyce

MATCH ODDS

Sky Bet are offering odds of 13/8 for a Dale victory on Tuesday night.

Click HERE for the full betting preview.

HEAD TO HEAD

Fleetwood	Draws	Dale
4	7	3

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 7.30pm.

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 | Fleetwood Town 0-2 Rochdale (Checkatrade Trophy)

9 October 2018

Dale made it two wins from two in the Checkatrade Trophy with a 2-0 win at Fleetwood Town.

Jordan Williams opened the scoring with his first goal for the club in the first-half, before Andy Cannon doubled the lead shortly after the break.

The win means Dale are now through to the knockout stages of the competition, with a top two spot guaranteed in Northern Group B.

Keith Hill made nine changes to the side that started at Blackpool in Sky Bet League One on Saturday, with Harrison McGahey and Sam Hart the two survivors.

Dale’s youngest ever debutant, 16-year-old Luke Matheson, made his first professional start after impressing in the opening Checkatrade Trophy game against Bury, when he was awarded Man of the Match.

Dale began the game brightly and grabbed a deserved opener in the 16^th minute through Williams.

He won a header on the touchline into the feet of Matty Done, who played a return through ball for Williams to run on to. He drove into the area and fired beyond Fleetwood goalkeeper Billy Crellin, who couldn’t prevent the effort from finding the back of the net.

Williams was causing the home defence problems and had an opportunity to double the lead four minutes later after being found by Stephen Dooley, but he flashed an effort beyond the far post from a tight angle.

The Dale goalscorer again found himself in a good position to grab a second, when Matheson’s ball across to Dooley deflected into his path, but his sweeping effort curled over.

Brendan Moore made a strong save from a Wes Burns effort from distance, but the home side’s best chance came in added time of the first-half.

Moore’s pass was intercepted by Chris Long, who took a touch before firing goalwards, but Moore got back to make a fine save over the crossbar.

Dale were forced into a change just before the interval when Dan Adshead was forced off through an injury picked up from Kyle Dempsey’s late challenge minutes earlier. Joe Rafferty replaced him.

Dale’s lead was doubled inside two minutes of the restart. Great pressure on the Fleetwood defence who were playing the ball in their own area saw Cannon win the ball back and he took the ball forward before firing home powerfully.

Zach Clough replaced Hart with Dale’s second change and he was almost found by Williams when he was released down the left, but he was caught in two minds between shooting and looking for Clough, with the effort in between the both.

Fleetwood substitute and former Dale man Ashley Eastham sent a header back across goal at the back post when it looked easier to divert home, in a rare chance for the hosts.

Clough sent two free-kicks just wide of the near post from promising positions, with goalkeeper Crellin rooted to the spot on both occasions.

Dale stopper Moore held on to a whipped free-kick late on as Dale preserved their clean sheet, and held on for another three points in the Checkatrade Trophy Northern Group B.

Standings