The derby day may well have been lacking its usual pre-match boozer banter, as the pints of beer were exchanged for cups of Earl Grey alongside a rasher or two of Denmark's finest. And of course, there was no black pudding on the breakfast table this side of Fairfield.

But despite that, it still had it's usual elements. There was the same old queues, the same old Rochdale faces manning the Bury turnstiles, offering their usual generousity, the same old chants and the same old angry faces spending more time looking at the crowd than the game.

There's certainly something about this fixture which brings out angry little men, who take full advantage of fencing, steps, a row of cheerleaders and a dozen stewards or so to vent their anger to make up for their five foot nothingness. This year's prize goes to the gentleman sporting the 1980's Nick Faldo number who got so angered by his own side's second goal that he was led away by stewards.

As for the game, well in the cold light of day, this was a far more entertaining and open game than you usually get from this fixture, and despite the bravado of "there's nothing special about them", it was two good sides out there and it showed. This fixture (as opposed to the ones at Spotland which see us concede before the first V is flicked at opposition supporters) is usually something of a dour stalemate with it being 30 minutes in before it dawns on you that there's not been a shot by either side as of yet.

With a few changes from the side at Barnet during the week, it was the home side who made the better start out of the two sides as they looked to attack from the off. They certainly looked a good and well organised side, with a gameplan offering a little less freedom than the one that we play from.

Their strengths in my eyes were their central defending pairing and their front two. Sodje has taken some stick from Dale fans over the years, but on his day he is still a class above at this level, and unfortunately for us, this was most certainly his day, as he basically bossed Thorpe out of the game.

Bishop and his aging sidekick have also taken a bit of stick over the years, the former most notably for his over reliance on penalties and at Spotland earlier in the season, he looked nothing but a passenger. But the movement from their forward pairing was a lesson on how to get the opposition defence on the back foot, as they led us a merry dance all over the place despite our best efforts.

The home side's decent start to the game brought them a couple of decent opportunities but we did show signs of weathering this early storm. Fielding made a decent early save but if truth be told, it was a save that you'd have expected an under eleven ladies team goalkeeper to save, or indeed one of the cheerleaders. It was far from being a tester.

And then, it seemed like we slowly started to get a grip of things, and it was Will Buckley showing the sort of form which attracted scouts from all over the country earlier in the season. He picked up the ball around the halfway line, and went on one of his runs. As he approached the Bury box, he was brought down, and he did his best to make sure that the Premiership referee gave the decision, just in case.

With that free kick, the stage was set. Tom Kennedy returning to his old club, sporting the captain's armband for the first time in his career. You could almost see the celebration as he runs towards the home fans pointing to his badge before kissing his armband. Unfortunately, the only thing which came close to the home fans was the ball, as it ballooned over the crossbar without troubling the on loan Bury goalkeeper.

And then came the game's turning point. A poor back pass by Simon Ramsden was chased down by Bury winger Bennett, and with Fielding attempting to clear the ball, it ricocheted off Bennett, before bouncing agonisingly towards the Dale goal. There was this split second where you were questioning whether it would bounce over or whether TK could produce an acrobatic goalline clearance. Sadly, neither happened and it landed in the back of the net to give the home side the lead.

The goal didn't result in any heads dropping, but it was very nearly 2-0 not long after. Again, with great movement against the Dale defence, Andy Morrell got in a great header which looked a goal all the way. It beat Fielding, but hit the post and rebounding straight into the hands of Fielding. Fielding's reaction suggested he knew all along that the ball was going to do that. He'd have been the only person who did.

It was far from just being the home side on the ascendancy. We had a great chance after a bit of a melee which required the ball being cleared off the Bury line, with the keeper nowhere.

The second half brought exactly what was needed. Dale came out, fired up and took the game to the hosts, and whilst it might have been the stupid kick off time playing tricks with my head, it seemed to me like the first fifteen minutes of the second half was spent encamped in the Bury half.

Kicking towards one of the parts of the ground filled with Dale supporters, we had the opposition on the back foot, and you really felt that at some stage that a goal had to come. But with corner after corner, and all the possession, it was clear that Bury were taking great confidence whilst we grew frustrated as the goal never came, proving the old adage about having to score whilst you're on top.

Again, it was the Bury central defensive pairing who were ruling the roost, as the home keeper was rarely troubled. Alfie came close with a header which went just over the bar, but we were offered no time to settle, and chances were snatched at.

The home side continued to look dangerous on the break, and they should have sealed it when their veteran frontman Morrell missed what looked like an open net, after the ball had come to him following a fine Fielding save.

We kept plugging away, and Will Buckley who was undoubtedly our star man pulled off a super shot, which seemed to bounce off the post blocking my view. It transpired it hit a Bury defender the other side of the post and rebounded away. It would have hurt but it saved a possible goal.

But eventually, with around ten minutes to go, the home side put it beyond our reach, with an excellent goal, which even had Keith Hill waxing lyrical about it after the game. Nice passing moves save a 1-2 between Bishop and Jones, before Jones produced a great finish past Fielding to prompt a Wigan Walk from the Dale end. Shades of Paddy's goal against Halifax that time after his 1-2 with Super Kev.

And then, a good four minutes into the allotted four minutes of injury time, Dale did what Dale do best and gave the slightest glimmer of hope to the everly optimistic with Will Buckley producing a goal that had it been anything but a consolation would have had us talking about it long into the night.

He controlled the long ball he received, beat his man like he had all afternoon, and came up with an excellent little finish to get every remaining Dale fan left in the ground checking their watch to see if we could be witnesses to a late miracle. I don't think we got another touch of the ball, as the ref blew his whistle some twenty seconds after the restart.

So defeat at the hands of our local rivals, and a whole three hours extra to drown our sorrows, if the good people of GMP would allow us to do so. Bring on Bradford.