Match Report (02.11.99) - Dale 0 Hull 2
Dale failed to trouble the scorers for the seventh home match on the trot.
Despite bringing in Tony Ellis to boost things, Dale failed to trouble the scorers for the seventh home match on the trot. What's worse is that last year's relegation contenders Hull City managed to take all three points after outplaying Dale from start to finish.
And so the miserable run continues. A pitiful crowd turned out to see Dale fail to score yet again as the goalless streak now stands at seven home matches on the trot, and it is hard to see where the next goal is going to come from. We had an almost rerun of the Macclesfield game with the visitors scoring an early goal, then defend with the ease. This time however, our opponents increased their lead in injury to leave Spotland looking a very poor state with there being far more visiting supporters in the ground than home supporters.
It is hard to believe how it can have gone from being so good to so poor in such a short space of time. Victories at Rotherham and York now seem such a long time ago. The smiles on the terraces have gone and criticism is rife.
The game started badly for Dale. Hull came as another side to have done their homework on Dale, and read the game superbly. They were lead by the brilliant Reggae Boy Theodore Whatmore who ran the show from start to finish. They scored a goal as they waltzed through the Dale defence and former Mansfield player Steve Harper scored with ease.
They could have been three up within minutes. They came close to scoring, but found one goal bound effort hit Monington in the face before rebounding to safety. Another saw a scramble at the near post which somehow wouldn't cross the line. Our defence has looked pretty solid so far this season, but they were at sixes and sevens tonight. For what was arguably our strongest defence with Monington and Hill partnering each other for only the third time this season, we did not do well.
Saying that we did look a hell of a lot more dangerous up front. New signing Tony Ellis is still up to his old tricks and was winding up the Hull keeper Wilson at every set piece. He looked very lively in the first half and came close to scoring a couple of times. He had one header which went just over the bar, and another shot went just wide of the post.
Dale finished the first half well and came close to equalising. We had a lot of possession, and the Hull keeper Wilson seemed to be just holding on. But it was the same old story as we could not finish.
If the first half was disappointing, the second was depressing. Hull defended a lot deeper than they did in the first and we could not find a way of breaking them down whatsoever. We saw the same performance from Hull that we have seen from every team we have played at home since Southend, and with the same result. The chances for Dale dried up. The few shots that we did have, failed to test the Hull keeper. He didn't look the safest of keepers, but he was never forced to pull off a decent save.
Substitutions were made in an attempt to change things, but they had no effect. Holt and Jones were brought on replacing Platt and Searle, but they failed to inspire Dale.
Hull extended their lead in the final moments when Whitmore went on a run, breaking completely clear of the Dale defence, before firing easily past Edwards who had no chance at all. The small crowd that was there poured out of the ground. There could not have been more than 500 Dale fans , if that, left in the ground after the goal went in.
It must be back to the drawing board for Steve Parkin now, because we are getting beaten by teams which we would have battered weeks ago. The midfield is getting overrun. We are getting very predictable in our style of play, and that has lead to our downfall. It seems all the early season optimism has gone, as shown by the poor attendance. And to top it all, I swear I heard someone shouting "Bring back Barrow!"
Dale: Edwards, Evans, Stokes, Hill, Monington, Ford, Flitcroft, Peake, Searle (Jones) , Platt (Holt), Ellis
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