Dale keeper Matt Gilks saved two penalties but it was all in vain as we crashed to our third 1-0 defeat on the trot. This defeat makes it our worst start to a season in twenty two years. Report online now.

Another game, another defeat and Dale join bury in the bottom two after the first three games of the season.  Surely, as D:Ream once said, things can only get better!

Yet again, it was a 1-0 defeat and yet again, it was a defensive error that led to the goal, this time an own goal from Alan Goodall.  You have to feel sorry for Matthew Gilks as well because he's arguably been man of the match in all three games this season, saved two penalties on Saturday and still came out on the losing side in each game.

Steve Parkin was forced into a few changes as Rickie Lambert was ruled out through injury and with that in mind, it seemed obvious that the best way to keep Swindon out was to go 4-5-1 with Jon Boardman recalled into the side and Lee Crooks pushed up into midfield, Adam Rundle was also called back into the team.  Anyway, Dale lined up with Matt Gilks in net, Simon Ramsden at right back, Alan Goodall at left back and Jon Boardman and Nathan Stanton at centre half.  Chris Dagnall started on the right wing, Adam Rundle on left wing with Lee Crooks, John Doolan and Ernie Cooksey in midfield.  Iyesden Christie was up front on his own.  On the bench were, Lewis Edge, Gary Brown, Callum Warburton, Joe Thompson and Darrell Clarke.

The game started off with possibly the quickest booking I can remember with Iyesden Christie going in late on one of the Swindon defenders and he picked up a yellow for his efforts after about 20 seconds.

The majority of the first half was boring as hell and both teams failed to create any real chances.  We managed a couple of efforts on goal, one I seem to remember from Chris Dagnall and the other from Iyesden Christie but neither tested the keeper.  As for chances at the other end, Gilks could have gone off for a brew given how little he had to do.

One of the few talking points of the first half was the on-going battle between Nathan Stanton and Christian Roberts and it got to the point where it looked like Roberts was winning the wind-ups by getting Stanton booked.  I feared that Stanton would get carried away and end up getting himself sent off which was exactly what we didn't need!  Fortunately though he calmed down after that and got the better of Roberts.

Another talking point occurred when a late tackle went in from Cooksey and there was a bit of a fracas in which Ernie Cooksey was pushed in the chest by Pook and both ended up with a booking although we felt Pook should have been sent off and that the referee bottled it completely.

With the half coming to a close, Parkin's defensive tactics were working a treat until a stupid error cocked things up for us.  A cross came into the back post and Alan Goodall was left to deal with it.  There was no-one pressuring him, no-one behind him and he aimed to cushion a header back to Gilks but got far too much on it and ended up sticking it in the top corner!  Absolutely needless and it was a huge blow for Dale who had kept Swindon out all half.

The second half was more more entertaining as a football match than the first half but unfortunately Dale were dealt another blow when Alan Goodall brought down one of their lads in the box.  A few people claimed it wasn't a penalty and that he got the ball but we thought it was and Goodall again, made an error and should have stayed on his feet rather than stupidly diving in.

Christian Roberts stepped up to take it and an awful penalty was saved by Matt Gilks much to the relief of the visiting supporters.  I think Goodall owes Gilks a pint!

Roberts was again involved a few minutes later as he made Jon Boardman look extremely stupid by completely skinning him with unbelievable ease and this left him one on one with Gilks but the Dale stopper did brilliantly to force him wide and he had to turn back by which time a tackle was put in.  A great chance wasted.

The same thing happened again a few minutes later in that Boardman was completely skinned by Roberts, this time though the cocky Welshman went for a shot instead of taking it round Gilks but he didn't connect properly and Gilks made a comfortable save.

Darrell Clarke was brought on in place of Adam Rundle who had done very little all game.  Cooksey moved over to the left with Clarke going on the right and Dagnall pushing up to join Christie up front.

Another penalty was given to Swindon Town and this one looked to be harsh.  Handball was given against Ernie Cooksey when the ball was hit straight at him and the referee pointed to the spot again.  There was a huge protest from the Dale players which eventually saw Matt Gilks booked.  Christian Roberts' miss earlier meant that he wasn't having this one and he left it to Paul Evans who blasted it straight and sent Gilks the wrong way..............but............Gilks still saved the penalty with his leg.  How ironic that last week the Swindon keeper saved two penalties and now it's happened against them!  Another superb effort from Gilks.

Rochdale had a chance to get back into the game with about ten minutes left when Lee Crooks had a shot but his effort was straight at the keeper but Dale kept attacking from that point on but couldn't make the final ball count.

Two more subs came on for Dale.  YTS winger Joe Thompson came on for John Doolan as Dale went to attack for the final few minutes and a couple of minutes later, Gary Brown replaced Ernie Cooksey but it was too little too late and the final whistle went.

So, that makes it 0 points from 3 games which isn't the start we'd hoped for but surely it can't get any worse?

Player Ratings:

MATT GILKS 8 Awesome, two penalty saves and didn't deserve to be on the losing side

Simon Ramsden 6 Distribution was good but Monkhouse gave him a hard time when he could be arsed

Alan Goodall 4 Awful, scored a stupid own goal and conceded a stupid penalty.  Been very poor in these first three games and needs to improve

Jon Boardman 5 First half he did alright but second half he struggled severely against Roberts who made him look stupid

Nathan Stanton 7 Solid all game, didn't let Roberts get the better of him and if we can get a decent partner for him, we'll have a good defence

Chris Dagnall 6 Worked hard when he was involved but fairly anonymous for parts of the game

Adam Rundle 5 Even more anonymous than Daggers.  Did very little indeed

Lee Crooks 6 Worked hard again and looked solid though a few simple passes went astray

John Doolan 6 See Crooks

Ernie Cooksey 6 A bit better from Cooksey, he battled throughout

Iyesden Christie 6 Struggled to create anything up front on his own.  Needs Lambert up with him.

Subs:  

Darrell Clarke 6 Didn't notice him when he came on

Joe Thompson 6 Not on long enough to judge him really

Gary Brown 6 Not on long enough to have any sort of impact either

Photo: Action Images

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