Dale suffered their first defeat since April when they lost 3-1 to Hull City at a windswept Boothferry Park. If defeat was not bad enough, the injury crisis deepened with two players leaving the field injured during the first half. Full match report now online!

Dale's long unbeaten run came crashing down in a thoroughly wet Boothferry Park, when Hull ran out 3-1 winners over a patched up Dale side. 

Dale were forced to field all their fit players or so it seemed. Injuries to full backs Wayne Evans and Sean McAuley meant that left back Lee Todd had to play at right back and Matt Doughty came in for his first start since Macclesfield playing left back for the first time for the club.

The first half began just about the same time as the rain did (why does it always seem to rain on trips to Hull?), and it was clear right from the off that any thoughts that Dale were here to look to sneak a point were well off the mark. Dale were very mcuh up for it, and took the home side completely by surprise.

Dale were well on top and the Tigers looked nothing like the side that their had been predicted to be following all the signings in the Summer. Dale ran them all over the place, playing neat passing football, which has seemed to be our most effective style of play. Dale had a number of efforts on goal, without really testing the Hull keeper Glennon. Perhaps after the way he conceded the goal from Wayne Evans last season during Dale's 6-0 thumping of Carlisle, the players they just had to get it on target to get in.

They were made to work very hard by a strong physical (but not in a dirty way) Hull team, who gave them very little room on the ball, but the Dale players easily rose to the challenge. Gary Jones in particular was outstanding in midfield and ran the show, giving examples of both skill and strength, and the much maligned creativity. He was everywhere and showed the sort of form which makes him one of the division's best midfielders on his day.

Dale came close on a number of occasions, with perhaps the best effort coming to Keiron Durkan whose thirty yard shot brought groans from the Dale following before it rebounded off the cross bar to safety. However, any plaudits he may have received for his first effort were soon rescinded when his far post shot failed to even go out of play for a goal kick minutes later.

The Dale cause wasn't helped one bit when record signing Paul Connor was forced off again due to his troublesome hamstring injury. This has now happened several times this season, and it is not showing any signs of improvement. Admittedly, we have only three strikers at the club, and quite rightly Steve Parkin is keen to protect Kevin Townson as much as he can, but this cannot be doing Paul Connor any good at all both physically or mentally.

Townson's introduction saw Dale go a bit more direct in their style of play which seemed to play into the hands of the strong Hull defensive line, but as usual, Townson was causing all sorts of problems, and he is looking stronger and stronger with each game he plays.

However, as the half went on, the missed chances were always going to come back and haunt us against a team of Hull's quality which soon started to show through. After withstanding the pressure from Dale in the first twenty minutes, they seemed to find their feet at last, and were beginning to look dangerous when going forward. 

Whitmore, who didn't look interested when Dale had the ball, looked capable of dribbling through the entire Dale team if he wanted, and he also looked like that was exactly what he wanted to do. Fortunately, there was a couple of tremendous last gasp tackles on him which saved our skin.

Although Hull's period of dominance had lasted a matter of minutes, it did look like a goal was on the way, and when it did, you could only admire it's quality. Summer signing Gary Alexander got hold of the ball outside the Dale area, before letting fly giving Gilks no chance whatsoever to put the Tigers one up.

However, we have seen time and again this season the strength of character in the Dale side, as they fought back to equalise on their very next attack, and it came courtesy of England International Kevin Townson who no doubt delighted the watching 1492 scouts at the game. He reacted quickest after an initial Tony Ford short was blocked by Glennon, and buried it to become Dale's leading scorer for the season with four goals, despite only starting one match for the club!

The Dale equaliser took a bit of the stuffing out of Hull, who seemed to lose the momentum of their recent improved spell, allowing Dale to again look very comfortable. However, the Dale cause was again harmed when Matt Doughty was forced off after falling badly when attempting a clearance, meaning that YTS player Lee Duffy came on for his first team debut. Duffy's entrance had the Statto's amongst the Dale contingent scurrying through the memory banks to remember the last time (if ever) that Dale fielded a side which contained four teenagers (Gilks, Townson, Doughty, Duffy).

If Duffy is an example of the new Dale youth policy produced by Messrs Hamilton and Hoyland, then things will be very rosy indeed for Dale in years to come, as Duffy came in and looked the part instantly.

Half time came, with the weather deteriorating as the evening progressed, and it was clear that Hull had been on the receiving end of some harsh words, as they were as fired up for the second half, as I have seen any team this season. They seemed intent on scoring a very early goal, with a couple of quick attacks. However, it was Dale who came closest to scoring first in this half.

"Super" Kevin Townson broke clear of the Hull backline just three or four minutes into the second half, and it seemed the sort of challenge that he thrives on. With just Glennon to beat, he raced into position, but he found his shot go just inches wide of the post, after Glennon had narrowed down his angles perfectly.

We were soon to regret that chance even further within a minute or so, when Hull regained the lead. The goal came following a move down the Hull right wing, where Summer signing Lawrie Dudfield played a one two with Whitmore. Unfortunately, after the initial pass, Durkan failed to continue to track back, allowing Dudfield all the time in the world to put a cross over to Alexander to score his second goal of the night.

This was another disappointing performance by the former Macclesfield winger. Admittedly you can point to the fact that he has been playing on his unnatural side (and we have seen with Michael Oliver the difference playing a player in his rightful position is), but he is already on the receiving end of negative comments off the Dale terraces/stands due to his performances.

Dale had a couple of half chances to equalise but nothing to make you drop your cold pie, and it was Hull who increased their lead just after the hour mark. It came after one of those goal mouths scrambles where around 47 fouls must have been committed as the ball zipped about the box pinball style. Surely, at least one of those must have been committed by a Hull player, but on the third attempt, the ball was poked home by Dudfield, with the referee having no hesitation in allowing it. It was at the far side from the terrace housing the 400 or so Dale fans, so our view wasn't perfect (or in the slightest bit good), so appealing for a foul was probably just clutching at straws as far as we were concerned.

That goal gave the home side that bit of comfortability that they had lacked up until this part and although Dale had plenty of possession from here on in, we never really looked like pegging back a goal. Hull seemed content enough with having scored their three goals, and they seemed in perfect control both with and without the ball.

s the clock started ticking down, and with the majority of the Dale support having long gone, Hull's Whitmore was sent off after needlessly throwing a punch at a Dale player (Griffiths I think!). It was unprovoked, other than your average sort of challenge, and it was missed by 99% of people within the ground, leaving many in amazement as the red card was produced.

Ultimately, it wasn't the worst performance by Dale this season, and at times during the first half, we played some of our best football of the season to date. Heads dropped a little in the second half, but tiredness played a major part behind this. In truth, the players could really have done with a week's rest after the marathon effort against Fulham in the Worthington Cup.

With two more injuries picked up this evening, and with a whole host of matches in the next few weeks, it seems that new recruits are going to be needed if we do not want to allow our great start to be ruined by our threadbare squad.

You want positives? A great first half performance, Townson continuing to be the hottest property in the Division, and Graeme Atkinson back on the subs bench after an eighteen month lay off. Oh, and we're still top of the league!

Photo: Action Images

Rochdale Polls