Ian Henderson’s 79th 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 17th 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.