Despite having Graham Lancashire (left) making a cameo appearance in the final minutes, Dale were left with just a point at Orient. However, seeing as this was Orient and Dale never get anything here, perhaps we should be pleased with what we got.

Not the most earth shattering match you are likely to have seen this one, but a point at Brisbane Road is not to be sniffed at, especially considering our dismal record at the home of the O's. Indeed, Dale secured their first point at Brisbane road since 69/70 season and their first ever clean sheet into the bargain. However, Dale could have taken all three points against what is possible the poorest Orient side ever.

There was a small number of Dale fans in attendance tonight. Many were put off by the exorbitant prices charged by Orient (£15 for adults, and £10 for kids), so it was perhaps no surprise that there were only about 100 Dale fans making the journey down South, and many of those were exiled Dale fans.

Dale went into the game with just the one change from Saturday, that being the return of Damon Searle, who stepped back in for Dean Stokes. This meant no starting place for the impressive Chris Bettney again. There were places on the bench for Graham Lancashire and Keith Hill, who have both recovered from recent injuries.

The first half saw little to write about. Both goalkeepers remained untroubled for the majority of the half, as most of the play revolved around the midfield, with Jason Peake in complete control. Defences were very much on top, with little getting past them. There was one scare for Dale just before half time, with a scramble in the box, which lead to a double save by the grounded Neil Edwards. Orient looked incapable of scoring all night, and look likely to break Dale's 7 game goal drought on this showing. Indeed, one effort even cleared the new stand that they have at the "car park end".

The second half saw Orient take their foot of the pedal! Dale had the majority of the possession, and came the closest to scoring on a number of occasions, but without really threatening Scott Barrett's goal. Chris Bettney came on at half time for Tony Ford, starting on his favoured right before being transferred to the left hand side soon after when Flitcroft was brought on for Atkinson.

Mark Monington came closest to scoring for Dale when he had a free header just five minutes from time. However, he saw his effort clear the bar by some margin. Graham Lancashire was introduced for the last few minutes and looked very lively indeed. He did a lot of running, and caused the home side some problems.

However, a 0-0 was probably the fair result, with Dale good value for their point, and Orient not deserving anything more. You got the feeling in the second half, that Dale were the more likely to score, and if they could just step it up, the goal would come. But after conceding late goals in recent away matches at Wrexham, Torquay and Swansea, perhaps we did the right thing in settling for a point.

There was a protest against manager Tommy Taylor at the end of the game. It is hard to believe that this was the team which got to the Play Off Finals last season.

Dale: Edwards, Evans, Searle, Bayliss, Monington, Ford (Bettney), Jones, Peake, Atkinson (Flitcroft), Ellis (Lancashire), Platt

man of the match Jason Peake 

Photo: Action Images

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