Dale throw away a lead late on yet again, as Bristol Rovers fought back to gain a replay in the 2nd round of the FA Cup. Clive Platt's early goal wasn't enough to give Dale a place in the next round.

Awful. Terrible. Abysmal. No that wasn't Dale, but the weather! An ice cold day in the south west of England, as Dale braved the conditions to earn a replay against a very poor Rovers side. It all could have been different though if they had held on to an early lead given to them by Clive Platt.

Well it was a different team for Dale, a very attacking one too. 3-5-2 once again from the start. Simon Grand was given his first ever start alongside Richard Jobson. Evans making up the other centre back spot. The major shock was that Clive Platt was dropped back into midfield, with Evil partnering Paul Connor up front.

The change worked a treat, Platt was simply awesome. He grabbed his goal and gave Dale the lead, as he stormed through on goal and coolly slid the ball through Rovers keeper Howie's legs. 'MEGS!!!!!!!!' 1-0 to Dale.

Rovers had the most of the possession throughout the game, but they were truly woeful in front of goal, in fact I can't seem to remember Taffy having a save of note to make, though Howie in the Rovers goal didn't have much to do either with shot-shy Dale.

Rovers were gifted an equaliser on 73 minutes. Dale failed to clear their own box, and substitute Bradley Allen slid the ball into the bottom corner from 8 yards out. Rovers were then pretty much on top, and though they didn't offer much up front, you sensed they were most likely to score.

It could all have been so different though, if Paul Connor had buried his chance when through on goal from a tight angle, but he slammed his shot agonisingly wide, though the linesman flag was up I think anyway for offside.

Was it an improved performance from Dale? Well in some ways it was, we battled throughout, Platt, Melaugh, Flicker, and Evans especially. But it has to be said the Bristol Rovers were woeful, one of the poorest teams we have played this season, and to throw away our lead was not acceptable.

We still are not creating the chances for our strikers. We sent Platt clear once and he scored, and Connor carved out our only other chance of note by himself. Defensively, we were patched up big time, but we coped well. Evans was outstanding, first time this season he has looked like his old self really.

Slightly disappointed not to be fully in the draw for the next round already, but we have another chance now to dispose of Bristol Rovers. Judging by Bristol's performance today (and at Runcorn last week) that is a MUST win game, and one we SHOULD win.

Photo: Action Images

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