Dale were sent crashing to a 4-2 defeat at Leyton Orient. The Brisbane Road Curse struck yet again, as despite Dale being 2nd in the league, we were well and truly hammered.

There was a larger than usual Dale following with 309 fans making the long journey to Orient. Matt Gilkes was back in the net following Hahnemann picking up a back injury. The rest of the team remained unchanged from Tuesday.

Dale got off to a flyer and within 90 seconds Andy Harris had to clear off the line from Platt's shot.  Dale had the best of the chances in the opening stages and could of taken the lead. Jones broke through the middle and had the chance to play in Ford but it was a poor pass and the move broke down.

Ibhere broke through on goal though soon after and Griffiths got back and helped block the shot which Gilkes easily scooped it up. Platt looked a threat all afternoon and gave the home defence a tough time, winning header after header. Steve Watts hit a shot from 25 yards which went close. Jones then hit a long range shot from 30 yards which was tipped away for a corner. Griffiths met the corner with his head and it went just wide.

Ibhere gave Orient the lead on 33 minutes at the back post with a header. Comments from Richard on Commentary of 'This guy is useless' came back to haunt him, as he popped up to score and give the home side somewhat of an undeserved lead. Jeff Minton seemed to then elbow a Dale player in the face of the ball. There was calls for a red card, but it was just a yellow in the end.

Gilkes then gifted Orient their second. He threw the ball out towards Doughty, but it was too strong, it fell to Joseph who whipped the ball in for Minton to make it 2-0. From then on Orient seemed to be in control and looked a useful side. For the rest of the half Dale didn't really get anywhere and Orient were well on top.

Kevin Townson was brought on for the second half in place of Wheatcroft who was seemingly ineffective in the first half. Dale again started the half the better, and Jones fired in a useful shot within the first few seconds. But just the same as the first half, Orient pretty much secured the victory. Steve Watts made it 3-0 giving Gilkes no chance. Seconds later Ibhere fired in another shot and Gilkes made a great save. Everything was falling to pieces. No sooner than this happened and it was 4-0. A stunning goal from Matt Joseph who headed home at the near post.

Platt nearly picked up a consolation. Durkan whipped in a cross and Platt rose to meet a header, but Barrett produced a stunning one handed save. Dale did manage to pull one back though. A McAuley free kick was parried out and Kev Townson pounced to score for Dale. Townson then gave Dale another goal, with a stunning volley with his left foot. It wasn't to be though as Dale couldn't find anymore goals.

Any positives out of this game? Not really, pretty much a disastrous day for Dale. Townson had a storming half scoring two goals. The boy is worth a fortune! The Brisbane Road curse struck again for Dale. Will we ever actually win a game down. Many fans may be feeling that the bubble has burst now, has it really? In my opinion, not at all. We go into games at Orient expecting nothing and that's what we usually get. Orient ran the game in the second half, and Dale got worse as the game went on. But lets face it, we were due a bad result after such a fantastic season so far. Things will get better. Keep the faith.

Excuses for not winning today - The Dale fans were too noisy! It surely must of put Steve Parkin off his game plan - he can't off been expecting to hear such noise from the fans. All in all though we deserved to lose. Not the best of days for Dale.

Photo: Action Images

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