Maybe it's my age showing through, but there's only so many times can you go through the same old "We took 5000" / "Your were quiet" arguments, and there's always someone who will come up at some stage and try claiming that two towns just eight miles apart have some sort of different genetic family tree background. It's groundbreaking stuff.

But for all the other things, derby days are amongst the best days of the year, and this was to be no exception. A full on proper day out, starting with that traditional full English breakfast of Bacon, Sausage and Stella, a good sing song with the natives outside the pub and a football match that had everything except for that little bit of quality.

And the delayed kick off. Dear, oh dear. Was it really so difficult to comprehend that given the super soar away grand slam Premiership decider (insert Sky Sports sound effect here) between Chelsea and Man United was on the box before the game, that many fans might be turning up in the fifteen minutes before kick off? At least the turnstile operators softened the blow by operating the usual Gigg Lane discount schemes. Cheers fellas!

The game itself, which we were in danger of forgetting was actually taking place given all the hype being chucked about, was the last chance saloon of our automatic promotion hopes. On paper at least, as whilst it was a possibility we were going to go for it, but we all knew it was about as likely as a Bury / Dale attendance agreement, and they were all but extinguished before our game kicked off with Hereford racing into a lead down at Brentford.

We took on our local rivals with a couple of changes from last week. The unsual midweek break from football had allowed the recovery of Simon Ramsden to take his familiar right back spot, and Chris Dagnall was surprisingly played instead of Adam Le Fondre up front.

And so the game started. In terms of action, there wasn't a right lot to remember, of if there was I can't remember it. It was your typical derby day match. Plenty of blood and thunder, but few real chances.

The chances that there were came the way of the home side for most of the first half. It was former Dale player Andy Bishop who nearly had the first breakthrough when he broke clear of the Dale defence, with just Tommy Lee to beat. Unfortunately for the striker with the challenged hairstyle, he found Lee in great form and Lee got his leg in the way of the shot from Bishop.

And then we had one of them chances where it just seemed inevitable that Bury would take the lead. The ball was pinging about our box all over the place, and it appeared to be cleared off the line two or three times as we defender deeply and bravely with all hands to the pump. A real let off for Dale but one which we earned through our defending.

But the games first real talking point of the game came when Bury loan winger Elliott Bennett bypassed our full back Kennedy, before cutting inside. A simple challenge by Stanton brought him down, and with the Bury players doing their "Keano" bit, the referee had no hesitation in sending him off. Whether we liked it or not, it was the correct decision.

Would Dale cope despite being a player down? Well our three games this season where we've been reduced to ten men had seen us pick up seven points, so as always, there was no fear. But we did have a personnel change to accommodate our loss of defender.

Kallum Higginbotham was withdrawn to allow Nathan D'Laryea to come on and slot in alongside Rory McArdle at the back. That move suggested to me that Keith Hill was keen for Dagnall to get some game time, as Higgy's versatility would have made him better suited to remain on the pitch than Dagnall.

D'laryea showed yet again just how good he is, and the fact that our two central defenders' combined age was less than many a Graham Barrow central defender during his time at the club (a certain K. Hill excepted) was frightening as they played with a confidence and intelligence beyond their years. The future is in very safe hands.

The second half saw Dale kicking towards their supporters packed out in the Cemetery End, but it wasn't too long before the extra man paid dividends and it was Dale transfer target Nicky Adams who got the winner. You could have put money on it.

A neat passing move saw him break into the box from the right hand side, and a clever finish saw him rifle it past Tommy Lee who had no chance whatsoever of getting in the way prompting even more excitement in the South Stand than the latest score from Brentford had done, and even the babies were getting in on the celebrations.

But let it be said, it was a very proud moment as Bury's goal simply kicked off the cries of "Que Sera Sera" from the Dale end which was probably at its loudest all afternoon when Bury had grabbed the lead. We'll send you a postcard!

A further couple of switches saw Alfie and Will Buckley come off the bench, as Dale went three up front despite having just ten men on the pitch. Dagnall and Rundle were the two who made way.

And despite another goalmouth scramble which could have extended the lead for the Shakers, Dale started getting more and more into the game. We weren't forcing chance after chance or anything like that, but we were driving forward with more regularity and we spent a lot longer in their half. But as I said, we were struggling to take advantage of that possession and the Bury keeper remained mostly untested.

But then the game's big talking point happened. Depending on your point of view, or deep rooted mental incapacity, something happened. Now McArdle either headbutted / punched / stabbed / glassed / macheted tall defender Ben Futcher, all of which are clearly evident in the TV footage. According to some.

More rational viewings had Futcher receiving an accidental blow to the head win a challenge with Rene Howe some moments earlier, which caused his head to bleed. So as McArdle entered the box, Futcher pushed McArdle away, wiping blood on Rory's shirt. This was enough for the referee to produce a second yellow card for Futcher and he was sent off. It looked a weak yellow card to me, but the push was clear enough for everyone to see.

But that wasn't the end of the shenanigans, as Futcher seemed hell bent on taking it out and someone, he had another pop at McArdle on his way off the pitch, only to find Dave Flitcroft waiting for him. It all got a bit heated on the sidelines for a bit as Flicker needed restraining from Bury's goalkeeping coach, but if it can't get heated on derby day then when can it?

But the parity on the pitch didn't lead to the break through, and the geet big scoreboard kept ticking down the remaining minutes, and it looked like our final league away game of the season was set to end in defeat at the hands of our nearest and dearest.

But this is Dale and is there ever a doubt that with time running out, we'll grab an equaliser? Not on your life. And with the game entering injury time, there was a couple of challenges in the Bury box from their defenders which were clumsy at best, and just when we were all about to start complaining as the referee seemingly gave us a penalty after appearing to give it the other way at first. The first we knew was when we saw Jonah with that clenched fist and huge grin on his face.

At this point, I'll confess to becoming 15 years old again, and racing down the front to stand behind the goal to watch the penalty from possibility the worst view in the ground being below pitch level. The keeper got a hand to Alfie's spot kick, but the reaction of those around me showed that we were back on level terms. Cue more Wembley songs!

And did we nearly win it? Oh yes. Rene Howe chased down as Sodje shepherded the ball back to keeper Provett. He nudged at Sodje who clattered into Provett, leaving Howe the simple task of slotting it home. To be fair, the referee had blown his whistle before Howe "scored", and had it been allowed, I think there may have been a few hundred ending up on the pitch.

But 1-1 it was in the end, in what was probably just about the fair result, and the arguments could then begin about crowds, penalties, sendings off, loudness, disallowed goals until we're all blue in the face.

It might not have been our best performance of the season, but to look so solid against one of the division's in form sides when we had one less man than they did for over half the game takes some doing, especially when the opposition are doing anything but just playing out time before the season ends. That'll most certainly do for now, especially when we've got bigger fish to fry in these next few weeks.