Match Report - Dale 1 County 2

But the reality is that Dale produced one of their better displays of the season tonight, possibly even the best home display of 2007-8, yet still came away with nothing to show it. Make no mistake, we were the better side tonight yet came away pointless against a Stockport side who scored with what was probably their only two attempts on target all evening.

And that's not sour grapes. If I was dishing the sour grapes out, I'd be ranting on about a couple of the match officials for whom incompetence would be a compliment based on this performance, where vital decisions led to both County goals.

Anyway, the game.

Having treated the M62 like it was Wacky Races to ensure that not only did I make kick off in time, but also I could grab something almost warm from one of the Spotland food kiosks before the game had started, I was pleased by the time that I took my usual spot on the terrace to see that a number of changes had been made from the team who were given victory by Dagenham at the weekend.

Adam Le Fondre was recalled to take the place of Scott Taylor, Prendergast was given a well deserved recall to take Rundle's place after he picked a knock up at the weekend, and Kallum Higginbotham was rewarded for his display on Saturday by replacing Ben Muirhead.

The game kicked off and my initial thoughts were that County looked very much up for the game. Knowing how every game with Shrewsbury since our very own seven goal capitulation has carried that extra bit of edge, it was clear that the 7-2 was just as fresh in the Stockport minds as it was in our own.

But this little storm lasted a matter of seconds, no more than that, before we started to stamp our authority on the game, and we then pretty much spent most of the first half camped in the Stockport half of the pitch, as we attacked the WMG end of the ground.

We thought we had the lead. With more people in the box than seemingly in the stands, the ball crossed to the left hand side, where Rory Prendergast looked to have a fairly simple chance to volley the ball into the back of the net.

However, his effort went to the other side of the penalty box, and resulted in a proper goal mouth scramble with bodies all over the place. Eventually the ball ended up in the back of the net after being cleared off the line 73 times already. As we all celebrated, the linesman put a dampener on it by raising his flag as goal mouth scrambles are no longer allowed and should apparently be consigned to "Match of the Seventies" at a muddy Baseball Ground.

But Dale continued to press, and whilst out and out chances were at a premium, we were always looking the more likely of the two sides to score. Or so you'd have thought.

And then from out of nowhere, County scored. And they scored with more than just a hint of controversy about the goal. Liam Dickenson broke into the box, controlled the ball with the use of his arm, before his shot beat Spencer to given County a very undeserved lead.

Dale continued to press but found themselves thwarted by a County side which packed out their own box, giving us little time on the ball indeed, and any crosses that we put in were met with ease by the County keeper Logan.

The second half began after one of the most bizarre warm up acts ever seen as the Stockport seemed to perform some routine which was a cross between the Hokey Cokey and re-enacting an exploding firework.

Dale had County on the back foot right from the start, and again like the first half we were the most dangerous looking side. Alfie was lurking at all times, and after a trademark run into the box, his curled shot was parried by the Stockport keeper and despite his best efforts, Higginbotham couldn't get on the end of it and it went out for a corner.

Or so it should have been. If Higginbotham didn't touch the ball, then he wasn't interfering with play. If he couldn't make the ball, how could he be interfering with play? But the linesman who looked like he was carrying a pillow under his yellow shirt to keep him warm decided that it was offside. Within 30 seconds, Stockport had extended their lead.

The goal came from a free kick on the left hand side, and it was Dickenson again who scored this time with his head. 2-0 down, and it was hard not to feel bitter.

But full credit to Dale, heads did not drop and we continued to battle away. Many a time over the years, a 2-0 lead would have seen the white flag being waved. Indeed, I've seen some performances over the years where we've surrendered from the opening kick off with the score at 0-0.

And indeed, we came roaring back, and the lively Le Fondre was the man behind it all. He broke into the box, only for his cross to be handled by a defender. He had no hesitation in picking up the ball, and his penalty gave Logan no chance at all. 2-1 and Dale were back in with it.

Whilst the sub may have given us some small impetus leading to the goal, the lack of midfield took away some momentum from the way we were playing, and it appeared to me that we allowed County to come back at us at this stage. They didn't really force any chances, but by pressing in our half, it stopped us attacking and this period contributed greatly to our lack of equaliser.

But we did come close. We did get the ball in the back of the net, after Le Fondre nipped in to head home a deflected shot, but this was again ruled out for offside.

As the game went on, we continued to press on, and a tiring Higginbotham was replaced by Muirhead, but the former Bradford man contributed little during his late spell, and in hindsight persevering with Higginbotham would probably have been a better option.

There were a couple of late chances which were enough to keep the visiting supporters on regular trips to the toilet cubicles, but ultimately we fell short and three days after a poor display brought us a win against Dagenham, a vastly superior display brought us nothing.

There were a great many positives from this game, and if we played like this every game between now and May, we won't be a million miles away.

There were a great deal of individual displays, with both McArdle and Jones having their best displays of the season, but fans trooped out of Spotland questioning the performance of Glenn Murray.

There's no doubting he's a good player, but he's not doing it for whatever reason, and with fans beginning to get on his back, you have to question whether sticking with him is the best option for him. It might be confidence, tiredness or the lack of a proper pre-season, but it's not working and I'd hate to see it reach the stage where it becomes almost like a witch hunt as Murray gets scapegoated for our start to the season. He's too good a player to be treated that way.

So defeat as I said, but much to be encouraged by. Just there were equally many things to be frustrated by. I hate football on nights like this.