Dale finished off their away program of 99-00 in much the same way as many of the others had finished with a very comfortable away win. This made it ten wins on the road for Dale this season, which must come close to breaking the club's record.

As usual, Dale did not make things easy for themselves by conceding a goal early on, when they should really have been three up at that stage.

It has to be said, that Macclesfield must really have had their minds on the Summer holidays, because on this showing they were one of the poorest teams in the division. They were really dreadful and were on a par with the likes of Carlisle and Shrewsbury if today was anything to go by. Dale could well have won by an absolute hatful, but having won the game by half time, they were content to just knock the ball around in the second half content with their lead.

The game took place just as the sunshine came out. The ground has shown some signs of improvement since our last visit to the Moss Rose, with temporary seating erected down one side, and a portacabin toilet in the away end. Other than that, it still looks like a ground from a division that Macclesfield left a long time ago. The Dale fans were housed in the open terrace behind one of the goal, whilst the end behind the other goal consisted of four rows of seating plus a little bit of terrace. The Grandstand is still there and three dugouts in front of it for some reason. You can well understand Macclesfield wish to obtain a new ground, but when they get crowds of just over two thousand like they did today with around five hundred of them following the away side, it would be extremely hard to justify it.

Dale went into the game with an enforced change to the line up. Dale boss Steve Parkin decided to revert the team to the 4-4-2 formation that they began the season with. There were recalls for Graham Lancashire , Keith Hill and Chris Bettney, whilst Jason Peake had to make do with a spot on the bench.

The change in formation, and the roasting following the 3-0 home slump to Northampton, seemed to have the desired effect, and Dale were well on top right from the off. Tony Ellis had the first chance when he tried to curl the ball into the top corner when presented with loads of space by the defence. The ball just missed, when perhaps McClare was in a better position. Ellis went onto have several chances in the first fifteen minutes, and could, or rather should, have had a hat trick in this spell. One of those chances saw him try to divert a shot into the net, but he could only succeed in nudging the ball wide.

At this stage, things were looking easy and it looked like becoming a case of how many Dale would win by. You had the feeling that one goal would open up the floodgates, but then Macclesfield did what they weren't suppose to do. They only went and scored! Despite being almost twenty five minutes into the game, it was only the second time they had been into the Dale half. The first saw the ball directed straight into the hands of Edwards. This time saw Macc making a run down the left hand wing, with Dale defenders backing off, the ball was put into the six yard box past Edwards giving ex Man U striker Tomlinson the simple task of knocking the ball into the open net.

Well any hope that the goal would spark the home side or the home supporters into life didn't last long, and within a few minutes Dale were back on level terms. Dave Flitcroft got the ball and made a run with it towards the penalty box. As he approached the edge of the box, and at the precise moment that I shouted at him not to shoot, he fired the ball straight into the bottom corner to equalise for Dale. Ah well, football punditry has never been my strong point.

The game continued with Dale well on top, with many chances wasted with several efforts ending up in the terrace containing the Dale supporters behind the goal, with McClare and Bettney both responsible for missed chances. However, it wasn't long before Dale took the lead, albeit through an unlikely source, when Wayne Evans finished off a smart Dale move by putting the ball past ex Dale reserve keeper Lee Martin in the Macclesfield net.

The second half was a different matter, with both teams seemingly content for the game to finish that way. Macclesfield stepped up a gear, but failed to show anything to threaten the Dale goal. They had a couple of chances which went wide of the post, including one effort when Edwards was left stranded with an open goal beckoning.

Dale didn't put the Macclesfield goal under any pressure, even after keeper Martin was sent off with twenty minutes or so still to go. Martin was sent off for an offence on the edge of the Macc penalty box for deliberate handball with Graham Lancashire putting him under pressure. Unfortunately for the Silkmen, they did not have a substitute goalkeeper on the bench despite having five subs to choose from. As it happened it made little difference, as Dale failed to subject the "sub keeper" to any real efforts. The new keeper managed to tip the free kick over the bar, though it had been fired straight at him. There were a couple of other minor chances, but most Dale efforts seemed to go wide or over by some margin.

As it turned out, the one goal lead was enough, as the game finished 2-1. The second half was one of those typical end of season matches, strange considering that the Play offs were (and still are just) a mathematical possibility before the game. Given the right results next week, the 7th spot will come down to goal difference and Dale had a real opportunity to bag loads of goals today. Let's hope that they don't live to regret it next week. Dale always looked capable of stepping up a gear, should it have been necessary.

The final whistle brought strange feelings on the away terrace. There was obvious elation at yet another away victory, but there was also a strong feeling of what might have been had results over Easter been better. The Play offs are not totally out of the equation, but Dale would have to make up 6 goals on Cheltenham as well as hope for rivals sides to lose. We shall see.

Dale: Edwards, Evans, Monington, Hill, McAuley, McClare, Flitcroft, Jones, Bettney (Peake (Bayliss)), Lancashire (Platt), Ellis

Photo: Action Images

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