Dale returned from the South Coast with all three points in one of those customary away days where your face hurts from grinning so much. Full match report online.
We can trot out all the clichés of how just a few years ago, Southampton were lording it up in the FA Cup final whilst we were doing our worst to stay within the Football League, but for me a trip to St Mary's was just Darlo with queues. I know I may differ from popular opinion, but this was not about getting all excited about playing some team that we used to see week in week out on Match of the Day, or even using it as a benchmark as to how far we've come.
This was just another weekend of Dale v somebody, but there was certainly more attention to this game than what we'd normally get. The absence of any games in the top two divisions must have made this game the biggest in the country of the day. The BBC picked out this game on the weather forecast in the morning, national radio were doing full match commentary, and for reasons unknown, the game was being broadcast live on the internet across the world. We never had this at the Moss Rose.
There were shades of Mexico 86 about St. Mary's, with this mystery circle appearing on the pitch close to the centre circle. I kept looking up to see if there was something hanging above the stadium causing a shadow, but it looked to be one for the guy from the Troggs to investigate.
It had certainly been a season of turmoil so far from the home side. The manager sacked two days after a 4-0 away victory, and the death of the chairman in the opening week of this year's campaign, though it seems slightly subservient to see fans with the name of their Chairman on the back of their shirts. There's paying tribute and there's wanting to be seen to be paying tribute. A 3-0 home defeat to Swindon in the JPT was probably the worst possible result for us, as undoubtedly there'd be some sort of reaction from the Saints.
We didn't have much to sing about in the opening stages of the game. The expensively assembled home side were looking to provide value for their money and they had us on the back foot for some time. Whilst they weren't quite hammering us, or requiring Lillis to come up with save after save, there was a feeling that they were flexing their muscles and that a goal was on its way. Lillis made one good save, and another shot whistled past his post. At the other end, we didn't have much to threaten other than some long range effort from Jonah that was tipped wide by their keeper, but c'mon Gary, at your age, you're not going to score from there.
Fifteen minutes in, and there was a part of me who was fearing a bit of a battering. It was certainly nice of both sides to ensure that my £22 entry fee got me football played in the half of the pitch nearest to me, but it would only have been fair for those on the other side of the ground to see some action in their half. We were firmly pressed into our own half and try as we may, we just couldn't get out.
Well fortunately those at the other end got to see some action, after that initial 15 minute burst from the home side, we started to look quite comfortable. We got to grips with the game , and started having a fair bit of possession. We were helped somewhat by Southampton's number ten who was having more influence on the game than anyone else on the pitch. He was almost brilliant, carving out chances for himself but unfortunately for Puncheon, the kindest way of describing him is to say that he must have left his shooting boots at home. The most accurate of describing him is to say he was being bloody useless when it came to shooting, and we in the away end were in more danger than the scoreline. The circus chants were most apt.
We continued to get a grasp on proceedings, and the "ickle Rochdale" factor no doubt helped to contribute to a growing feeling of discontent amongst the natives who were in shock at not being 5-0 up. Dale fans as a breed will always look to take full advantage of this and it took me a good twenty seconds to realise that the Dale fans weren't singing "There's only one Alan Partridge". Aha!
With half time approaching, and a token one minute of additional time shown, Scott Wiseman broke up a Saints attack before clearing the ball to Gary Jones. If we're being honest, I'd say most of the travelling Dale supporters saw this an opportunity for Jonah to see out the rest of the half allowing us to go in at half time on level terms. But as we know, Gary Jones is operating from a different script these days, and he ran with the ball goalwards, and with Elding breaking through the centre, he slid it out left to Chris O'Grady. O'Grady simply pushed it through the keeper to give Dale the lead.
As the goal went in, I did wonder where there was a wry smile on the face of David Flitcroft, as the goal had more than a passing resemblance to that famed Graeme Atkinson winner at Rotherham that time where he played the Gary Jones role deep into injury time.
Half time saw many a Dale fan under the concourse start whispering about the 6-1 odds that they'd taken on Dale to win at St. Mary's. Whatever happened to the days where travelling Dale fans would bet on the opposition to help fund the away trip? Have we really reached the stage where we're not only betting on ourselves, but admitting to it too?
So here comes the onslaught. The angry beast that we'd dared to rouse just before half time. Here they come with all their might ready to put Dale to the sword. But it never happened.
We may as well have took off our shoes, stuck on some slippers, gathered a nice cushion and perhaps a lovely hot chocolate to boot. Because in doing that, I doubt we could have been any more comfortable than what we were in the second half. Common sense says that our lead was a slender one, and a couple of minutes of madness could have even seen us trail, but I never felt at any stage of that second half that the away victory was in any doubt, and I think both sides knew it too.
Southampton were devoid of ideas and inspiration, and as the cliché goes, they'd still not have scored had they still been playing now. And that still holds even if you're looking back at this report in the archives in a couple of year's time. The game was sewn up and the only doubt which existed was whether we'd add to our lead or not.
Indeed, we almost doubled our lead within the opening minute or two of the second half, or rather Southampton nearly doubled our lead for us, when a Chris O'Grady shot was intercepted before spinning menacingly towards the goal, and it seemed to hang in the air forever before bouncing off the woodwork.
The home side had plenty of possession as they tried to get back into the game but they found a Rochdale backline at the top of their game. That lad we picked up on loan from West Brom during the week might be worth a permanent switch to Spotland, but Marcus Holness was inspired, producing a genuine man of the match performance. I'm sure many were having kittens over the thought of Holness up against Lambert, but in the same way that twelve months ago, Hilly decided to show faith in one young central defender, history is in danger of repeating itself.
Veteran Eire striker David Connolly was brought off for fresh blood, but it made no difference to the way the game panned out. It was all a little bit relaxed from our point of view, and if there is anyone out there who still thinks that we are on some sort of one year tour of League One, then think again. We're exactly where we deserve to be, and the likes of Southampton are not the big boys, they are our peers.
And then came the Jonah moment. Think Bristol Rovers 2001, and you're getting close. Anthony Elding pushed the ball back to him, and from around twenty five yards out, he just buried it. There was no watching the ball as it sailed through the air. It left his foot, and just appeared immediately in the back of the net. An absolute thunderbolt from the the rejuvenated Jones. There can be no better goal in Jonah's long Dale career, and we may as well award Goal of the Season to him before next week's home game with Walsall. I just hope that Southampton's attitude towards the visiting media that would have the Chinese government take note has not robbed Jonah photographic evidence of another iconic moment to hang on his wall.
An absolutely brilliant goal by our captain, giving him five for the season now - more goals than he has scored in total for the two previous seasons.
Twenty minutes to go, but it was game over. It was game over for the Southampton fans who decided enough was enough and walked out. It was game over for the Southampton fans who decided to remain, abusing both caretaker Wilkins and those in control of their club. And it was game over for the Saints players who's heads dropped knowing full well that they'd been deservedly beaten by a side they could learn much from.
The Saints huffed and puffed a bit but Dawson and Holness weren't going to give up their cherished clean sheet, and I'd be doing our side a disservice to say that we held on to record a 2-0 win. There was no holding on at all.
The standard four minutes of injury time didn't raise an eyelid. It was just another four minutes to milk it in. No doubt four minutes more for the home supporters to grumble about his this was a new low in the history of their club, but they're not the first set of fans to declare the end of the world at losing at home to Dale and they won't be the last.
Full time brought big cheers, bigger betting accounts, and even bigger grins. If you thought that the final chapter of the Hillcroft revolution happened when O'Grady scored against Northampton last season, then think again. We might be in unchartered waters for those of us of a certain age - that age being anything this side of a hundred and fifty - but winning away at Southampton is just the latest page in a wonderful, wonderful story.
And to think, we used to say last season that we've never had it so good....
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