Well there better not be any whining letters to the Ob after this performance. Dale played brilliantly from start to finish, and were very unlucky to be on the losing side. 

Despite the first leg deficit, a surprisingly large number of Dale fans made the journey South, perhaps in hope rather than expectation. Dale proved themselves to be a top draw, by giving Stoke their largest crowd of the season which prompted the chant of "What's it like to see a crowd?" to the home fans at one point. Ah for one night only, irony was alive and well in North Staffordshire.

Following on the stick received following the first leg, where Steve Parkin played a right back in the left back position, he answered his critics by not playing a left back at all. Parkin changed things round completely, by playing just three at the back from the start, flooding the midfield with a full return for Graeme Atkinson and Tony Ford. This worked perfectly by not allowing Stoke to get anything constructive going.

The first half started slowly. Straight from the kick off, the home side looked complacent in their outlook. Dale, on the other hand, showed all the qualities that were missing from Saturday's defeat at the hands of Leyton Orient. Almost without exception, every Dale player was playing well, and Dave Bayliss who returned to the defence was reigning supreme, making every tackle. in midfield Dave Flitcroft, given the freedom of a five man midfield, had his best game in months, making crunching tackles and crucial passes for former Potter Tony Ford MBE down the right hand side.

Stoke had a couple of attacks within the first few minutes but got nowhere near having a shot. Both Atkinson and Ford were returning deep to help out the defence when required.
At the other end, Dale weren't finding it easy against a resolute defence, but all the chances came Dale's way. They were helped to a certain extent by Stoke keeper Ward who missed a couple of clearances, before seeing the ball agonisingly rebound goalward. Ellis and Lancashire were quickly showing signs of their partnership returning, with neither stopping working throughout.

Jason Peake had a long range effort from outside the box, which went straight at the home keeper Ward, but still troubled him before he gathered the ball.

Dale had a number of half chances as the half went on, with the home defence helping out on more than one occasion. None of the chances were clear cut, but at least all the chances were falling Dale's way. All the talk amongst the travelling fans was that if we could get one goal, you never know what might happen.

The second half began with Dale attacking the end containing their supporters, and it began in much the same way as the first ended with Dale very much on top. Certainly, this was to be no easy passage to Wembley for Stoke. The Dale midfield kept up their fine work of the first half, by making sure they were first to every ball. The five man midfield also helped out with the passing by giving that extra option every single time.

Dale almost snatched the lead when they had a number of corners within the first ten minutes of the half. Graeme Atkinson had an effort which was heading goalward, when Tony Ellis, playing against one of his former sides, got a back heel on it to send it soaring towards the top left hand corner, but Gavin Ward pulled off a wonderful save to deny this effort.

Stoke, obviously troubled by the on the field activities, decided on a double substitution with Lightbourne and manager's son Gudjonsson coming on for Gunnlaugsson and O'Connor. This gave the home side their first signs of life in the entire match as they started to cause problems for the tiring Dale defence. Within seconds of the substitutions, they had City's first shot of the entire match but it didn't require a save. Minutes later, a header went wide of the post but was a lot closer than the previous effort.

Dale continued to press as time ran out, and again had the majority of the possession but you started to get the feeling that it just wasn't our night. This was proved four minutes from time when Stoke got the winner Thorne dived in to head home a Kavanagh free kick.

The Dale players got a worthy standing ovation at the end of the match, after outplaying their second division opponents. Every player did their club proud, and this new tactic must be considered for Saturday's game with Carlisle, following it's success this evening. It gave the midfield so much more freedom, and Graeme Atkinson flourished out on the left. This could be just what we are looking for to get our league campaign back on track.

Dale: Edwards, Evans, Monington, Bayliss, Ford, Jones, Flitcroft, Peake, Atkinson, Lancashire, Ellis. Subs Holt, Bettney

Photo: Action Images

Rochdale Polls