What a game! The game, especially the second half was one of the most exciting games I have seen, with Dale coming from behind to lead twice, only for the Posh to come back and equalise each time.
United almost snatched it in the dying minutes when they awarded a penalty only for Neil Edwards to save former Pineapple head Jason Lee's effort. It would have been an injustice had that gone in, as Dale more than matched the home side, dominating the game for long periods in the second half.
Full marks to the home side for their admission policy at London Road of charging only £3 for anyone looking under the age of thirty or so it seemed with dozens of Dale fans claiming to be juniors to save themselves six quid. No wonder, so many Dale fans were able to wave money back at the Posh fans in the second half.
Dale actually went into the game with one or two injury problems. Keith Hill and Mark Monington were both ruled out, though one rumour that Mono had just wanted to avoid referee Lynch, who sent him off at Rotherham earlier in the season. This meant Dale's back three consisted of two full backs in Evans and McAuley, and Dave Bayliss. There was also a return for Jason Peake.
However, in the early stages of the game, it looked like we were playing a back five rather than a back three, as the Posh made most of the early running and had us under quite a bit of pressure. As expected for a Barry Fry side, they were quite a big team, and we struggled a bit for height with the aerial balls into the box. Despite, this Dale managed to hold on and soon found themselves on the attack, and many of the Dale fans were almost celebrating a windfall. Many Dale fans had taken advantage of the bookies within the ground which were offering 16-1 on Ellis for the first goal, despite offering 10-1 on Bettney and 12-1 on Morris. They were even only offering 33-1 on Edwards to grab the first goal! Anyway Ellis came very close to taking the lead, but Posh responded by going straight down to the other side of the pitch and taking the lead. Ex Wimbledon striker Andy Clarke put Peterboro one up with a superb volley from inside the box giving Edwards no chance at all.
The rest of the half gave no indication of what was to come in the second. There was a fear that Dale would crumble if Posh could manage to score a second, but as the half progressed there was enough to be confident about, as Dale made slow but definite progress. There were one or two half chances, but that was about as far as it went.
Half time came, with a marching bagpipe-less Scottish band for entertainment, but that was mostly ignored as a couple of balls were tossed into the away end by Phil Priestley during the half time warm up, providing a little headers and volleys practice for the travelling thousands (well hundreds).
The second half proved to be a fantastic advert for division three football. Dale came out and right from the off, put the home side under an intense amount of pressure. The last few minutes of the first half had proved that they could at least match the home side, and it wasn't long before Dale got some reward for their efforts. The goal was created by Tony Ellis who was excellent again throughout the match. He turned in the box, before being forced to the touchline. From there he crossed the ball to the far post, where Tony Ford was able to sidefoot the ball into the back of the net.
Rather than just sitting back, Dale continued to attack and go for the second goal. Dale were playing the neat passing football, and Peterborough could not cope with it at all. In fact the home team were so out of it, the home fans started waving money at the Dale fans in a bid for excitement.
However, the money was soon back in their pockets, as Dale took the lead. Again the goal was down to Tony Ellis who broke into the box, and again was pushed wide to the touchline, albeit on the other side this time. Instead of switching the ball across, he turned his defender giving himself time and space, and fired home to take the lead.
This prompted a bit of a comeback by the home team, but nothing to really worry Dale. The best chance they had resulted in a superb flying save by Neil Edwards to tip it round the post to prove he has fully recovered from his double hernia operation and is back to his best. This resulted in yet another corner for the home side, and it was from this that they grabbed the equaliser. Dale were always struggling from these set pieces. A corner came in and Dale failed to deal with it at all and the ball was put into the net by defender Rea.
However, Dale urged on by the vocal support from behind the goal, continued to attack and Jason Peake got his first goal since Halifax to put Dale back into the lead. He played a neat one two with Tony Ellis, before beating one of the home defenders, and fired home.
Eighteen minutes remained, and it was a question of whether Dale could hold onto the lead and record their first win over the Posh in ten years. Clive Platt ,who replaced Lancashire, looked back to his best. He battled well, and proved to be a real handful for the home defence.
Unfortunately, Dale could not hold onto their lead, and former premiership striker Jason Lee grabbed an equaliser as Peterborough piled on the pressure in the last ten minutes.
Seconds later he had the chance to win the game when Posh were awarded a disputed penalty. However, Neil Edwards saved well to record his first penalty save of the season.
With time running out, Dale had plenty of chances to grab all three points. Graeme Atkinson came very close with a header which struck the crossbar, with the keeper well beaten. But the two best chances went to Clive Platt. He had two glorious chances to win it after doing everything right in his build up by breaking free of the home defence to set himself up for a one on one with the keeper twice. The first time, his effort crept wide of the post, and the second went just over the bar. It was a shame as he had been great up till then. Perhaps with a bit more confidence he would have finished both.
Parkin said afterwards: "I am dismayed how we have not taken all three points despite scoring three goals against a side like Peterborough. A draw does no one any favours and if we are to get up with the promotion pack, we must start picking up maximum points."
This was a game that should have provided Dale with a well deserved victory. There were many great performances in the Dale side with Tony Ellis again the pick of the bunch. There are rumours that he plans to retire at the end of the season. I sincerely hope he doesn't for our sake. He has been outstanding in recent games, and is well on the way to being a contender for Player of the Season. There were many other fine performances with Jason Peake playing well in the centre. Graeme Atkinson had another excellent game causing all sorts of problems to the right back. Perhaps had Monington or Hill been fit and been able to provide that bit of stability at the back, we would have been celebrating all the way back up the A1.
Dale: Edwards, Evans, Bayliss, McAuley, Ford, Flitcroft, Peake, Jones, Atkinson, Lancashire (Platt), Ellis.
man of the match: Tony Ellis