The Youth Team extended their unbeaten EFL Youth Alliance League run to six games earlier today, beating Accrington Stanley 5-1.
Dale were red hot on what was a cold morning at the Stanley Sports Hub.
The game did take a while to get going, with both sides adjusting to the cold conditions on the 3G pitch.
Accrington had the only real effort on goal in the first 20 minutes, forcing Dale keeper Lennon MacLorg into a fantastic save.
The home side were the first to strike, taking the lead after 24 minutes. MacLorg punched away two balls into his box, with the keeper and his teammates claiming that he had been impeded on when clearing the second cross.
On the third attempt, Accrington’s striker was on hand to head home to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
The game then seemed to peter out for the next 15 minutes until Brooklyn Bailey broke through the opposition defence, forcing the Accrington keeper into a foul after rounding him, winning Dale a penalty.
The shot-stopper was booked before Bailey calmly struck the ball into the bottom right corner to bring Dale level.
Only two minutes later, Oscar Kelly found himself in the penalty area before being brought to the ground by an Accrington defender, winning Dale their second penalty in a matter of moments.
Bailey stepped up again, this time firing the ball hard and high down the middle and into the roof of the net.
The quick-fire double before half-time seemed to have really woken Dale up, and they carried that on after the break.
Just four minutes after the restart, Bailey claimed his second hat-trick in the space of a week.
Kelly, who won the second spot-kick, retained the ball really well before finding Bailey, whose first touch took the Accrington defenders out of the game. Dale's number seven then fired the ball low into the corner of the net.
The hosts failed to create a real chance in the second-half with their closest effort hitting MacLorg’s side netting.
Just before the hour mark, Kelly extended Dale’s lead after breaking through the Accrington defence again. The forward finished superbly, sitting the keeper down in the process.
Just like in the first-half, Dale bagged a double in quick succession. This time Leo Cooper found himself in acres of space with only the keeper to beat. However, he opted to lay the ball off to the unmarked Oscar Kelly, who passed the ball into the back of the net to make it 5-1.
Kelly nearly had a hat-trick ten minutes later.
Cooper picked out the Dale striker in the middle with a superb cross. On this occasion the ball met the forward at pace, and despite his best efforts he could only guide the ball over the crossbar.
Before the game, Accrington occupied second place after ten games played and had only dropped five points up until this fixture.
Another fantastic result for Lee Thorpe’s side means that Dale have now moved up to fifth and have 19 points after ten games played.
The Youth Team face a trip to Hartlepool United on Saturday in the EFL Youth Alliance Cup.
DALE XI | MacLorg, Akpan, Cooper, Dos Santos, Edghill, Burgess, Bailey, Edwards, Mann, Kelly, Dunlop.
SUBS | Nicholson, Clift, Ayub, Horne.