Dale were held to a goalless draw by Grimsby Town, where the home side were undoubtedly hanging on by their fingertips towards the end of the game. Full report now online.
| The rain fell constantly from start to finish, we
had to walk miles to find a suitable pub happy to let us in and a Summer
of anticipation failed to bring a single goal. Yes, it could only be
that opening Saturday of the football season. We're back. Just short of 700 Dale supporters made the cross country trip to Cleethorpes and they'd have certainly come away encouraged by what they had to see. It might not have been a perfect performance, and there were certainly many things you could pick up on, but if anyone was thinking that the departure of David Perkins was also the departure of anything good about this side of ours, then it's time to think again.
Make no mistake, we should have come away with all three points after a second half where we'd declared squatters' rights in the Grimsby half, and we came so close time and time again, but it was not to be. But when you consider that on the equivalent Saturday of last season we were stuck of the bottom of the pile, then things are looking up.
We went into the game with debuts given to the Darlington Two in the form of Scott Wiseman and Clark Keltie. As expected, Keltie had been given the nod ahead of Toner alongside Jonah, with Wiseman a surprise choice on the right hand side of midfield.
The first half looked like both sides were still on pre-season duties. If I was the sort of match reporter who took down notes during games, I'd have been staring at a blank sheet of paper at half time, as there was very little to report. Neither side had chalked up a short on target, and it was arguable whether we'd got one off target either.
Football wasn't the easiest given the conditions, and it was a bit like both sides were playing a Poker game at times with neither team willing to over commit. We had bags of possession but without converting it into real chances.
We had a number of corners, but none of them posed any real danger except for one which saw the ball drop to Jonah at the edge of the box. It looked for all the world like it was set for him to drive through a crowded box into the back of the net, but as it was, it hit the first player in that crowded box and went out for another corner.
Half time brought much relief from the dire nature of the first half, but if there were any fears that the second half would follow the same nature as the first half, then within sixty seconds we were put at ease as the opening minute had more entertainment than the whole of the first half.
You got the feeling that half time team talks were very similar to that in Escape to Victory when someone in both dressing rooms piped up "We can win this.....", as up until then it was most definitely a case of mustn't lose from both sides.
But it could have been the home side Grimsby who took the lead. No doubt caught out by a side willing to attack, there was all sorts of confusion in our box and it took a Simon Ramsden goal line clearance to ensure parity was continued.
That clearance woke us up, and aside from a shocker of a back pass by Nathan Stanton midway through the second half, that was pretty much it from the home side, as the game was played in the Grimsby half from then on.
Gary Jones was the driving force in our midfield, and he played as if he was on a mission to prove that it was him who made Perkins look good rather than the other way round.
Supported well by new boy Keltie, he spread it around from one side of the pitch to the other, and had it not been for some desperate defending from the home side, then we may well have took the lead. Hope in particular put the ball out on 2/3 occasions without actually knowing where he was putting it.
It was Chris Dagnall who had far and away the best chance of the game. Some splendid passing saw him create space for himself in the box and from a tightish angle, it seemed he had all the time in the world to finish it, but as he tried to curl it past Barnes in the Grimsby sticks, Barnes produced a stunning save to put it out for a corner. "That would have been goal of the season" someone claimed.
Another Dagnall chance came as Ramsden put in the cross of the day, landing it perfectly on Daggers' head, but his header made for an easy save for the keeper.
We kept on pushing and pushing, making changes with Higginbotham and Thorpe brought on for Wiseman and Le Fondre respectively, and it seemed like that the elusive goal was getting ever closer.
And deep, deep into the three minutes of injury time, Adam Rundle went on a run, skinned a couple of players, probably skinned one of the them twice, and with the stage set for our first trademark injury time winner of the season, he shot with right foot with Dagnall screaming for it in the centre. The frustration showed as the side netting bulged rather than the back of the net.
But it was not to be, and we had to settle for the goalless draw. But it's always better to settle for a goalless draw than clinging on for one, and we extended our lead over Luton to 31 point before having to leave the ground by the most awkward route possible. |