Rochdale were deserved winners at Spotland this afternoon, against a terrible Leeds side of whom only Sam Byram emerged with any real credit.
Before the game I had feared that after all the rain we’ve had lately it would be played on a pudding of a pitch that might bring us down to their level (ha, ha, if only!) But in fact the Rochdale groundstaff had done an excellent job to produce a good playing surface, so no excuses there. There was also the Keith Hill factor, as I remember his Barnsley sides thrashing us a couple of times even though his results against other clubs were bad enough to get him the sack. He must love playing Leeds.
The most enjoyable part of the day was the pre-match music, with a splendid set of indie tunes topped off with a couple of numbers by the Jam and the Doors. So much better than the rubbish they play at most grounds. Then the match started and things began to go downhill.
Unlike some ‘big’ clubs this weekend we fielded the nearest we could muster to a full strength team. Wooton returned after missing nine games with injury, with Tom Lees dropping to the bench. We still played with three central defenders, and up front Smith was the lone central striker and McCormack and Byram played either side of him. It turned out to be rather wasteful to have our leading scorer wide on the left, especially when he started taking throw-ins instead of getting into the box.
We wasted the first chance of the game when McCormack sent a free kick into the wall from a good position, but at the other end a Rochdale header went just wide of the post and Kenny was forced into a good save before Peltier did well to block the rebound. We should have expected that the ‘Dale would work very hard, but not that they would find so much space every time they came forward, with none of our defenders quite sure who they were supposed to be picking up.
At this stage both sets of fans were producing an excellent atmosphere, and the Rochdale fans informed us that were weren’t famous any more, so obviously they must get crowds of over 8,000 every week. Around the middle of the first half Leeds started to enjoy more of the possession, but too many moves were breaking down through mis-placed passes, with Pugh and Austin both guilty on more than one occasion.
Sam Byram carried our biggest threat down the right, and two Rochdale players were booked for hefty challenges on him, so I started to think our best hope was that one of them would pick up a second yellow and take them down to ten men. Byram set up McCormack with a clever flick but a defender did well to get across quickly and block the shot, and otherwise our best chance of the half was a Smith header which was cleared off the line.
But it was the home side who took control of the game in the closing minutes of the half. After Henderson and Hogan had brought good saves from Kenny, they took the lead when Hogan was left unmarked as a cross came into the box, and he accepted the invitation to head Rochdale into the lead.
We had hoped that McDermott would read the riot act to the players at half-time and they would come out fighting, but all we got was more of the same, with most of the team being out-run by a Rochdale side who always seemed more eager to get to the ball. And to make things worse Byram was moved further infield where he was less effective, instead of being able to run at the defenders he had troubled during the first half.
Our only tactic was to lump it forward in the direction of Smith, which must be the sort of tactics that Rochdale face every week, with no sign of the kind of passing moves which might have tested them. Instead, McCormack was left to get increasingly frustrated at the lack of service. On the one occasion he did get the chance to run at their defence he produced a fine curling shot that I thought was in, but in fact went just wide of the far post.
Apart from that, our best effort of the second half was a shot from Pugh which was straight at Lillis and saved without too much trouble. By then we were yelling at McDermott to make a change, and who did he bring on in the 76th minute to save our place in the FA Cup? Er, Noel Hunt, who proceeded to do absolutely nothing. Poleon would have been the better option, but he didn’t get on until the 85th, when it was far too late.
By then things had got truly embarrassing on the field and the mood of the Leeds fans down the side was turning decidedly ugly. Rochdale had realised that our defending really was that bad, so instead of sitting back for the last few minutes they decided to open us up with some more of their impressive passing football,
A shot went across the face of goal and just wide of the far post and Kenny was forced into two more fine saves, before they put us out of our misery with the second goal six minutes from time. A cross came over to Henderson on the edge of the box, and he was left in so much space he must have felt quite lonely. He had time to pick his spot and lob the ball of Kenny into the far corner.
After that it was just a matter of playing out time, as we were never going to get two goals back, while plenty of Leeds fans headed for the exits. "We’re sick and we’re shit of it” was one of the kinder chants from those who remained, and the team was met with a chorus of boos when they came across to thank us after the final whistle.
McDermott was either brave or foolish enough to come over an applaud us, and seemed to point to us as if to say to the players "look what it means to these people, you lazy buggers”. So what does he need to do in the transfer window to turn this around? My first signing would be the Rochdale DJ, but on this evidence we need to make so many changes on the playing side that it’s difficult to know where to start.