A thoroughly professional performance saw Dale ease their way to another three points as we hit the top three  in the division for the first time in Keith Hill's time as manager. Full report now online.

In the blue corner were Dale, steady as she goes, twenty five seasons of "We shall not be moved" and in the words of the asbestos ambassador, they're not doing anyone any harm, but on the verge of doing something that little bit special. The buzz is most certainly with the Dale, and with the league table looking oh so pretty, envious thoughts are turning to the Rochdale division having a new name next season. Chuck into the pot one of the most exciting Cup comebacks any of us have seen from a Dale side, and Dale fans had every right to be hopeful about this game.

In the red corner (well white with orangey bits) were Luton Town, a side who've been to the top, hung around for a bit, and had all sorts of off the field shenanigans to keep them interested ever since. Life for Luton fans has never been dull. Pre-match was spent recalling obscure Luton Town players from the 80's (bonus points for Mal Donaghy and Tim Breaker) but there was to be no dancing David Pleat on the Spotland pitch. Or down by the town side streets trying to avoid speed cameras by going at just 2mph.

The Hatters facing a different threat this season, with relegation almost a certainty but the hopes of a great escape to end all cliché driven end of season great escape dvd collections dwindling in the icy Rochdale air, the reality of how to get their way back into the Football League at the end of the 2009-10 season was kicking in, though the manner of how they sit in 24th position was lost on one main stand Dale supporter who mocked the Hatters, remarking that he could see why they were bottom of the league.

The Luton side was very much in the Mick Harford mould. There will be many Dale fans who are far too young to remember Mick Harford, but do not be mistaken. The man was a brute. He was the many that Vinny Jones famously described as being scared of and as a result escaping the much fabled Wimbledon FC initiation ceremony. In a world which looks on the likes of Joey Barton or Patrick Vieira as being a football hard man, Harford was from a world of his own.

His side were big. Some looking too big to be footballers. Kevin Gallen had made Luton his next club, and if he was looking at them as his meal ticket, they're paying him handsomely. Others were so big that they made the Luton shirt look like one of those Lycra skin tight jobs. But undoubtedly, one man stood out - Roper.

He was a beast. He looked like he'd come straight from televisions very own Superstars. Everything about him, from his haircut to slightly less than athletic build screamed out 1970's. He was probably dropped off by Gene Hunt before the game. In fairness, he was a far more talented footballer than he looked, but then again, so is Stephen Hawkings.

Luton were roared on by a bunch of vocal, standing, bouncing, meshing stealing supporters who came in good numbers. They looked to outnumber the geographically closer Macclesfield supporters from the week before, but those with memories will remember Luton supporters outnumbering Macc fans at a Dale v Macc game some years ago. Though they promised to never come here again.

Dale kicked off towards the WMG / TDS / LSD stand and had the game wrapped up in the opening couple of minutes. After the palpitations from the Barnet game in midweek, it was rather nice of Dale to kick off with the same mentality, yet secure the win before we'd even settled into our matchday spot.

We began with the same tempo shown on Tuesday, knocking the ball around for fun, with our middle two of Keltie and Jones all over the place. We were awarded a free kick in the middle of the Luton half, and rather than messing about for two minutes whilst we wait for all of our players to get marked up, we took a quick one, stuck it out wide to Wiseman who whipped in a cracking cross for Lee Thorpe to continue the Indian Summer of his career with an impressive diving header. 1-0 to Dale and it was game over.

We were on a mission, and looked set to not just beat Luton but leave them with a goal difference to match their points total. The first goal seemed to be just step one of a plan which involved scoring as many goals as we possibly could. The tempo was high and the visitors were left chasing shadows.

That man Thorpe nearly doubled his tally. It's arguable that his sending off at Rotherham has been the best thing to happen to him, and he was given the ball in a golden position. The ball was zipping around far too fast for the Hatters to even see it, and it left Thorpe completely unmarked centrally on the edge of the penalty box. Fortunately for Luton, one player had in fact managed to spot the considerable frame of Thorpe and raced back to put enough pressure on Thorpe so that his effort came to nothing.

At this point, we were getting greedy and I defy any Dale supporter to hold their hands up and admit that at this point, they'd have been happy to just settle for a 1-0 win.

But we couldn't maintain this early dominance, and Town came into the game. They even looked quite good, and comfortable on the ball. For after this opening ten minute onslaught from Dale, it was Luton who probably had the vast majority of possession as they looked to get back into the game. But for all their possession, they couldn't transform that into a shot on goal (something they didn't actually manage till the last ten minutes of the game).

They had a couple of set pieces, which we all know isn't our strong point, and with so many big lads in their side, there was always the worry that something could drop for them, especially given we don't seem to have kept a clean sheet since Keith Hill was a player and not manager. We stood strong.

We didn't offer much more up front ourselves, and the rest of the half seemed to be spent commenting on how cold it was, and even the referee agreed allowing just a minute of additional time at the end of the first half.

The second half kicked off with Dale opting for a couple of extra minutes in the nice warm dressing room whilst the Luton players stood about in the cold. What a great way of robbing a side of that half time optimism.

A bit like the first half, the second half was a little flat. We were very much in control, both with and without the ball, and it was only that nagging doubt about our inability to keep a clean sheet that suggested that Luton could get anything out of the game.

We took a blow when Gary Jones was forced out through injury. He contested a 50-50 which made half the crowd wince as both threw themselves into it. No blame on either player, but it brought a premature end to the game for an otherwise impressive Jones.

But if 1-0 wasn't game over, then it soon was at around the hour mark. A Dale corner, saw the aforementioned Roper push McArdle over in the box as the cross came in. Despite noises from the Bedfordshire area, there was no other outcome in all honesty. Le Fondre took the penalty and stuck it exactly where the body of Logan had been standing before he dived to his left, and butterfly/birdcage/brian cant style shadow puppets were the order of the day yet again as Alfie put himself in pole position in the hotly contested top scorer competition at Dale.

And so the game carried on. Comfortable with the two goal lead, we looked to pick on the scraps offered by Luton without every really looking capable of adding a third. There seemed to be a collective feeling all of a sudden of realising that keeping a clean sheet was a hundred times more important than adding a third goal.

That clean sheet did come under threat however. A late cameo from Luton looked to have snatched something with around ten minutes remaining. A header looked to have given them a lifeline, but Sam Russell with arguably his first bit of action in the entire game produced a stunning save, whilst his team mates then scrambled it away. Luton weren't for scoring today.

And despite four minutes of added time, that chance that Russell saved was to all intents and purposes the real final whistle to the game as it secured all three points for Dale that was never endangered in the first place.

If I'm being honest, I was almost a little bit disappointed at the final whistle. Not with the performance or the result, just after the heroics from Tuesday, a 100% professional win seemed a bit of a damp squib. Part of me was left half hoping that Luton could have raced into a two goal lead, just so we could have had more of the same from Tuesday. Blame it on Keith Hill. Since he took over, I keep getting greedy about what I want from watching Dale.

But for now I'll gladly make do with third place. For now, anyway.

Photo: Action Images

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