Well the travelling Dale army made their way Northwards wearing their new socks for the Boxing Day fixture, knowing that nothing short of a win would be good enough against a side battling very hard to stay in the league. Given the absence of football recently for the Dale fans, it was perhaps disappointing that only about 3-400 made the trip, but those that did go to the match, came away very satisfied with the three points that were won.

To be honest, this was a long way from the best Dale performance of the season, and some of our play was sloppy at times. The Dale players weren't helped by playing on the worst pitch I have seen in a long, long time. Perhaps that is another Michael Knighton tactic. Perhaps it is a result of his beloved space ships landing on the Brunton Park pitch.

Dale went into the match with a couple of changes with Dave Flitcroft returning to the side instead of 53 year old Tony Ford, and Dean Stokes coming in to replace the 'in limbo' Damon Searle at left back.

The game began with Carlisle looking slightly better than the relegation fodder their league position suggests they are. Dale looked a class above them, but Dale were not firing on all cylinders during the first half. Carlisle struggled to make any real chances but there were also little at the other end either.

Carlisle took the lead after a quarter of an hour, slightly against the run of the play. A cross came in following a corner, and Edwards came to collect the cross. Unfortunately, he misjudged the cross, and he couldn't quite get there. The ball ended up at the feet of Durnin who fired the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the box to put the home side one up.

The rest of the half was spent with Dale trying to get back into the match. Carlisle had a few attacks on the break but nothing to really worry Edwards. They had one effort when they managed to have a free header, only to see it go straight into the hands of Edwards. Dale only had one real effort in the first half when following a corner, Clive Platt headed wide. Not long before the break, Clive Platt was subbed for Graham Lancashire. Platt was sent straight down the tunnel followed by physio Andy Thorpe.

After a half time, where the Dale fans were entertained by a Colin Montgomery lookalike in the form of one of the home team's stewards, a tannoy man who reported than Man Utd were losing by 400 goals at home to Bradford, and a snack bar which sells beer (nice!), there was a slight feeling of disappointment in the Dale fans. They knew their team could play a lot better than they had. However, there were enough signs that Carlisle could be easily broken down, and if we managed to get one goal, a second would not be too far away. And that was exactly the way it happened.

Dale got the equaliser about ten minutes into the second half, when a Tony Ellis shot rebounded into the back of the net off the post . You could see the Carlisle players heads literally dropping, and they were a very poor side after this goal.

Five minutes later, Dale were in front. Dale won a free kick just outside of the Carlisle box, and Dave Flitcroft took it quickly and saw the ball go straight into the top left hand corner to put the visitors 2-1 up.

After this, Carlisle offered very little and never looked like scoring. They had a bit of pressure in the final few minutes but Edwards didn't have a save to make. Dale should have wrapped the game up with some ease. They had plenty of attacks on the break and Graham Lancashire was the most guilty after failing to trouble the keeper with some of his chances.

It was a very welcome three points which makes it seven wins away from home in total this season. After a very disappointing first half, the players battled well and fully deserved the three points against what ended up being a very, very poor Carlisle side. It is a long time since I have seen a team put the ball needlessly out of play, as much as Carlisle did today. Nevertheless, these games still have to be won, and looking at last season, when we let teams such as Scarboro do the double over us, it puts today's result into perspective. This puts us within reach of the top few. I have a feeling that the year 2000 could be a very happy one for the Dale fans.

Dale: Edwards, Evans, Stokes, Bayliss, Hill, Flitcroft, Jones, Peake, Atkinson, Platt (Lancashire), Ellis.

Dale man of the match: Dean Stokes. A fine defensive display where he battled for his first team place. 

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