Saturday’s game against Wimbledon will be the 15th meeting between the sides.
The Dons hold the better head-to-head record with seven wins. Dale have won two and theere have been five draws.
Dale’s two wins against Wimbledon have come away from home, with a further three draws there.
Earlier in the season when the teams met at the Crown Oil Arena, the visitors won the game 2-1. Ayoub Assal and Josh Davison got the goals for The Dons on the day with Tyrese Sinclair getting a consolation goal for Dale.
We’ve taken a look at a couple of the meetings away to AFC Wimbledon…
AFC Wimbledon 3-3 Dale – Tuesday 27th April 2021
A 96th minute equaliser denied Dale of three points in 2021, as Wimbledon came from behind the snatch a point in a 3-3 draw.
The game started off with a nervy moment from Dale as Wimbledon almost took the lead through an own goal. Thankfully the ball struck the side netting.
Nesta Guinness-Walker dragged an effort wide from 25-yards for the home side, before Gabriel Osho rose highest to meet Matty Done’s free-kick for Dale, but his header was steered wide of the target.
Not long after Ayoub Assal looped a header up and over Jay Lynch which dropped wide of the post.
Wimbledon went on to create the best chance of the half so far in the 25th minute when Guinness-Walker got to the byline and flashed a dangerous low ball across the face of the goal. However, there was no one there to tap it home from close range.
Both sides exchanged chances and with the clock running down and half-time looming, Jake Beesley put Dale ahead.
In the 41st minute, Conor Grant sent in a low corner towards the near post, finding Beesley who turned home a yard from goal.
Three minutes after the restart Luke O’Neil was kept out by the woodwork, as his cross to the back post struck the face of the bar for Wimbledon.
Dale’s second came in the 57th minute, with Osho timing his run perfectly to get on the end of Conor Shaughnessy’s long throw-in to nod the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the six-yard box.
Dale’s two-goal advantage was short-lived as the Dons responded by scoring twice in five minutes to bring the game level.
The deficit was halved when Assal’s cross from the right was headed home from close range by Jack Rudoni, before Ollie Palmer tapped home a loose ball, again from close range, this time into an unguarded net after Lynch had been upended inside the six-yard box.
Dale looked to reply quickly and had two great chances to put us back ahead but failed to do so, before Jimmy Keohane’s stooping header went beyond Nik Tzanev following a flick on from Done’s corner in the 73rd minute.
Wimbledon were pushing for an equaliser with Lynch forced into action twice. He produced a superb save to deny Ryan Longman from close range, turning his effort round the upright, before denying Joe Pigott from the spot to maintain Dale’s lead.
However, his vital late saves were not enough as Wimbledon continued to pressure the Rochdale defence as they searched for an equaliser.
Pigott would make amends for his penalty miss when he fired home to snatch a point for the hosts, levelling the game up 3-3.
AFC Wimbledon 0-3 Dale – Saturday 8th February 2014
A Scott Hogan hat-trick sealed three points for Dale at the Cherry Red Records Stadium in a 3-0 win.
In a game where the weather had tested the pitch, both sides initially struggled to get to grips with the conditions and it took a bit of time for the teams to settle.
Matty Done got the first opening for Dale, however, his final ball was blocked by the Wimbledon defence.
Four minutes later Charlie Wyke powered a free header over the bar for the home side.
In the 35th minute, Jamie Allen was played through on goal by Matty Lund, who had picked him out with a diagonal ball. Allen raced onto it, taking him through one on one with ‘keeper Ross Worner, but as a Dons defender came closing in, he rushed a shot, sending it narrowly passed the upright.
A minute later Hogan fired an effort into the side netting on the angle with the teams going into the interval yet to break the deadlock.
The game continued this way too in the second half with end-to-end football and chances for both sides.
Dale’s best chance came from Henderson’s free-kick from the left-hand side, his floated ball towards the back post was met by Lund who rose to head towards the goal, but in hindsight, he should have left it for the unmarked Jason Kennedy.
Wimbledon’s best chance came from Charlie Wyke, who rounded Lillis and attempted to shoot towards the goal. The Dale ‘keeper managed to get his fingertips on the ball, steering it into the path of Joe Rafferty, who cleared the danger.
It was only in the 65th minute when the first goal was scored. Michael Rose picked out Done on the left-hand flank. Done drove forward before sending a cross into the area for the awaiting Hogan, who rose high and past Ross Worner.
Dale continued on the front foot and they thought that they had a second in quick succession. Rafferty sent in a wind-assisted cross-come-shot that was almost taken over the line by Worner, who initially did well to catch the dipping effort, but as momentum pulled him backwards, he had to use the post to stop himself from falling into his own net.
Shortly after Hogan doubled Dale’s lead and his tally for the afternoon. He beat the offside trap before rounding Worner and striking the ball into the bottom corner from an acute angle in the 78th minute.
Five minutes later it was three, and Hogan bagged his first Football League hat-trick in style as he cushioned a volley over the top of Worner after latching onto a ball over the top, rounding off a solid second-half performance.
AFC Wimbledon 1-2 Dale – Saturday 15th September 2012
Dale were victorious in their first-ever meeting with AFC Wimbledon in 2012, beating them 2-1.
The first-half alone included two penalty claims, a sending off and two goals. Safe to say that it was action-packed.
The home side had their first penalty claim after just seconds on the clock during their first attack of the match. Despite the Wimbledon player’s claims, the referee let the game continue.
Despite an early scare for Dale, they went on to score the opening goal of the game. Dele Adebola left goalkeeper Seb Brown with no chance after getting a head on a sublime cross into the area from Bobby Grant. The towering front man climbed above his marker to slam the ball into the back of the net to give Dale a deserved lead on a warm afternoon in London.
Wimbledon had chances of their own, with their best so far coming from Luke Moore, who ran into the box to meet Curtis Hayes-Brown’s brilliant low cross. Moore was denied by a last-ditch challenge which saw the ball fly past the upright.
The match continued end-to-end and on 19 minutes Bobby Grant rattled the crossbar following a free-kick.
The main talking point followed three minutes later. Wimbledon claimed for another penalty, this time Jack Midson was appealing for a spot-kick after being brought to the ground on the edge of the area. The referee initially signalled for play to continue, but with the linesman furiously waving his flag on the sidelines, the referee brought the game to halt as he went to communicate with his colleague.
It was during this stoppage which saw Midson receive a red card for an off-the-ball incident involving Bobby Grant.
The referee awarded a free-kick rather than a penalty, which was fired through the Dale defence, but not any further than Josh Lillis who collected the ball.
Dale looked to press Wimbledon who were down to ten men and their persistence paid off on 39 minutes.
After picking up the ball from Jason Kennedy, Bobby Grant dribbled towards goal and sent the ball into the corner of the net to bag his first league goal since moving to the Crown Oil Arena.
Dale looked to get a third after the break with Ray Putterill coming close twice. His first effort curled inches past the post.
His second came eight minutes later as he skipped past three Wimbledon defenders, he found the space to get a shot on target. The strike was pushed around the post by Seb Brown. The following corner was left by Putterill for the on-running Joe Rafferty who fired over the bar.
Despite being down to ten men, Wimbledon certainly made a game of it as Steven Gregory had the ball in the back of the net, but it was ruled out for offside.
Dale did still create chances of their own with Andrew Tutte calling Brown into action, forcing the ‘keeper to push his shot round the post. Minutes later Putterill rattled the ball over the bar, keeping the game at 2-0.
However, Wimbledon continued to show fight and they ensured a nervy end to the game for Dale. Luke Moore scored following a rebound from Youseff Rashid’s effort which rattled off the crossbar and back into play.
Five minutes after the goal Grant had the opportunity to give Dale their two goal cushion back, but his powerful effort from inside the 18 yard box was saved superbly by Brown.
Following that Wimbledon threw everything at the game and Dale were under immense pressure in the final minutes. Following some brave defending and Dale riding the pressure, they held out to win 2-1 away from home.
