I should have known that this afternoon would be a bad one, when I got run over in the club car park before the game. The match turned out to be one big disappointment, as Dale failed to capitalise on a lot of possession, and could really have seen all three points heading back to South Wales.

A crowd of 2,975 turned up to see the encounter between Dale and the Jacks, with a pitiful turnout from the visitors of less than a hundred. Obviously the thought of visiting the best ground in the country [(c) Daily Mail and Total Football] was not that appealing for the Swansea fans. The game saw full debuts for loan signings Damon Searle and Richard Green who both slotted into the defence. Carden played on the right in place of the injured Tony Ford, and Steve Parkin continued with the pairing of Michael Holt and Clive Platt up front.

The game started very slowly and neither side really got to grips with the match. Both sides were playing below their strengths judging by the relative league positions. Far from looking a top of the table clash, the game was littered with mistakes, most of which came from referee Roy Pearson who was out and out incompetent. He gave us only two decisions in the first half, and both of them were wrong! His performance was filled with inconsistencies, and it is a wonder how he remains on the football league list.

The closest Dale came to scoring was when Clive Platt turned on the ball in the box, but he saw his weak shot saved easily by the impressive Freestone. Dale had two penalty shouts turned down by the referee both involving Michael Holt. The first came following a challenge by a Swansea defender who knocked Holty off the ball at the corner of the penalty box. The referee ruled that the challenge had occurred outside of the box, despite the turf showing signs of a challenge within the box. The second saw Holt running alongside a Swansea defender for the ball that was running towards the dead ball line. Holt fell to the floor, and the referee felt that Holt had been a touch theatrical. He was probably right.

The second half saw Swansea start much the better and could well have had a goal. They forced two or three decent efforts, when their players got clean through but their efforts were all well saved by Neil Edwards. Mark Monington almost followed last weeks sending off with an own goal when his mis-hit back pass went goalwards. Thankfully, Neil Edwards managed to scramble a kick away with Price looming large for the visitors.

Dale got back into the match, and started to take control as they attacked towards the WMG stand. Several corners were forced, but each time, the ball seemed to find itself going straight into the hands of Roger Freestone every time. The Dale players battled well, but could not find a way past Freestone who really stood out. We created a golden chance, when the ball was laid off to new boy Damon Searle who blasted the ball towards goal, but somehow a corner was the result.

Dale almost lost it in the last few minutes when giant Swansea striker Alsop found himself clear with time, space and only Edwards to beat. You would have put your mortgage on him scoring, but he blew it, and allowed Edwards to save his shot with a typical piece of brilliance, and an even better one when he scrambled onto the rebound.
Julian Dowe was introduced in the last few minutes in a bid to spark something and snatch another late, late win, but it was not to be this week, as Swansea deservedly held on for a point. Indeed, their tiny band of supporters may well have felt they deserved all three.

At the end it was a disappointing result for Dale, as teams like Swansea must be beat at home if we are to launch a successful promotion campaign. At times, we seemed a little short of ideas in terms of attacking and breaking down the Swansea defence. I felt this was our worst display so far this season, but to be honest, we would all have taken 4th place after 9 games. However, if we continue to win all our away games, we will be able to drop points at home without any problem. Sounds simple.

Dale: Edwards, Evans, Searle, Monington, Green, Carden, Flitcroft, Peake, Atkinson, Platt, Holt (Dowe).

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