The return home of former Dale heroes Reg Jenkins and Stan Milburn were among the few highlights of an otherwise disappointing afternoon.
The return home of former Dale heroes Reg Jenkins and Stan Milburn were among the few highlights of an otherwise disappointing afternoon. They were introduced to the crowd at half time, prompting many calls for them to fetch their boots for the second half.
Today's game saw Dale come from behind to grab a point, and also saw the return of an old favourite, and the disappearance of another.
Dale started with debutante Phil Priestley between the sticks in place of flu victim Neil Edwards, as Dale fielded a team ravaged by injury, flu and suspension. Jason Peake was another flu victim, and Andy Barlow and Alan Johnson both played despite neither being fully fit. It was perhaps the most attacking Dale line up of the season, as Barrow opted to start the game with Holt, Painter and Morris.
Dale did not start the game well, and soon found themselves a goal down. A cross came over and young keeper Priestly came for it, but got stranded in no man's land. He managed to recover slightly, but it was too late as defender Guy Branston scored on his debut to put Plymouth one up, sparking many a comment around the ground about Dale now being in a pickle.
Dale tried to fight their way back into it but struggled to make any real impact. that did not stop loan signing Michael Holt sending a glorious chance yards over the bar, similar to one Painter had missed at Hartlepool days earlier. Holt later had a good shout for a penalty when he was brought down inside the box, but the ref. decided that the keeper had little say in what went on.
Half time came and saw presentations made to old boys Reg Jenkins and Stan Milburn prompting many a cry of sign them up. Many wanted Jenkins on in place of Andy Morris who had made little impact, and looked far from a league player in the first half.
The second half saw Plymouth opting for a Dale style performance as they sat back and allowed Dale back into the game. Dale came close with most of the pressing coming from Mark Stuart who came on to replace Andy Barlow in the first half. Indeed, it was Stuart who created the goal with an effort that rebounded off the post and found its way straight to Holty who had no problems in firing the ball home to equalise for Dale.
Dale came close on several occasions but couldn't quite finish it off. There was some excellent running by Carden, Holt and Painter. Plymouth came back into it late on and were unlucky not to score when one of their players rounded the Dale keeper Priestly and saw his shot trickle across the goal line before rebounding off the post.
The draw was probably the fair result, and was Dale's first point against the Pilgrims in nine meetings with the Devon club. Paul Carden was again Dale's best player as he shows real effort and his running is tireless. He must be signed now for next season or we will face losing him. The same must go for Michael Holt too.
Finally, there was no trouble amongst the Dale fans, which was good to see.
Dale: Edwards, Sparrow, Barlow (Stuart), Hill, Farrell, Johnson, Carden, Painter, Morris, Bryson (Jones), Holt.