Jason Peake produced a stunning overhead kick to secure all three points as Dale got revenge for their home defeat early in the season in this very one sided derby match. The result was never in doubt as Dale produced a throughly professional display at the Shay.

The Dale promotion bandwagon continues with a very controlled performance at The New Shay with Dale running out as comfortable 2-0 winners. The mood is definitely turning from what might be to what is likely to be, as chants of "The Dale are going up" rang out as the away fans poured out towards the end. This was a Dale performance which did what was needed to be done. It may have been a long way from the attractive performances seen at York and Cheltenham early in the season, but it was exactly what was needed. Furthermore, this is Dale's third win out of three in Yorkshire this season. Any chance of moving the ground to Todmorden?

A very large number of Dale fans made the short journey over the Pennines to Halifax. Reports suggested that somewhere between 1500 and 2000 had crossed the border to cheer on the Dale, making it the biggest travelling support since Anfield. Unfortunately, a small number of those who had travelled let the side down by deciding to enter the home end with the sole intention of causing trouble. It is a long, long time since the sort of thing has plagued Dale matches, especially where Dale fans were the guilty reports. However, a regular Dale fan sat in the seats, claimed that none were regular Dale fans, and there seemed to be no missing faces in the away end. Let's hope this isn't a symptom of success.

Anyway, the trouble only takes the shine off the victory which cemented Dale's place in the promotion chase, and with three home matches coming up, two of which are against promotion rivals, the season is really taking shape.

The game started with the home side well on top. The conditions weren't the easiest, with a swirling wind making it difficult for both sides, and it was hoped that we would not see a repeat of the Exeter match. Despite the early possession, the Shaymen were a long way from scoring and hopeful balls were put across the box with no one there to do anything with it. To make matters worse for Dale, things went off course when Mark Monington went off with what looked a knee injury fifteen minutes into the match. This meant that Tony Ford MBE was brought on in his place, and Wayne Evans switched to the centre of defence, when he yet again had an excellent match.

After this opening fifteen minutes, Dale soon were back in it, and their class was starting to show. Dale almost took the lead after about fifteen minutes. Tony Ellis almost scored when he tried to convert a Tony Ford MBE cross, but he saw his effort creep just wide of the post.

With half an hour gone, Dale took the lead in bizarre circumstances. A Jason Peake cross was headed down by Chris Bettney towards Graham Lancashire who had all the time in the world to put Dale into the lead. Somehow, he almost fluffed it, and his effort looked like it may have been saved on the line by Butler in the Halifax net, but the referee decided that it had with no complaints from the Halifax players. In fact it was only the referee pointing back to the half way line which led many Dale fans to realise that a goal had been given.

The second half began in much the same way that the first had finished with Dale looking fairly comfortable with their lead. Although again Town had much of the possession, there was to be no panic that we witnessed last week against Chester. Dale looked well in control and were content to soak up any Town possession and attack on the break. Despite this, Dale's lead never looked in any danger as the home side could do little to break down the patched up Dale defence.

With the hailing blowing down on the uncovered Dale fans behind the end Dale were attacking, a second goal was always needed if only to calm the nerves of the fans following last week's game. Although the lead was never in danger, a second would really put the game beyond doubt. And it was former Halifax player Jason Peake who got that vital second.

A corner came in, and Peake collected the ball around the penalty spot area, and produced a classic overhead kick to increase Dale's lead. As the ball nestled in the top right hand corner as the Dale fans saw it, the travelling army went completely mental knowing that victory was secure. This was one of the goals of the season already, and what a way to seal the derby win. So good was the goal, that even some of the Yorkshire folk acknowledged the goal claiming that it was alright.

Dale almost increased their lead following a lovely move down the left wing, involving Graham Lancashire who threaded the ball through to Chris Bettney whose effort beat the keeper but hit a defender to go out for a corner.

There was a couple of brief scares at the other end, one involving a goal mouth scramble, but Town looked incapable of scoring and were probably grateful to see the linesman's flag for offside at the end of it.

Other than that, it was a very satisfying visit to our Yorkshire rivals. Things never went according to plan what with injuries to Monington and new boy McAuley who went off with his head covered in blood, but we kept a clean sheet with this patched up defence. Added to this two goals at the other end, it made a very pleasing day out.

Photo: Action Images

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