The league leaders came to town and rode out with all three points after racing into a two goal lead early in the game. Full and late match report now online.

So pick the bones out of this one then.

If I could sum up this game in just one sentence, I'd say that despite a good start by Dale, we fell behind following the most bizarre free kick you're ever likely to see, and before we knew it, we found ourselves 2-0 down. The comeback looked on for a while, but a thoroughly professional second half performance by the visitors contained us to ensure that they finished worthy winners.

And yes, I cheated. That was two sentences.

But this was a game that is incredibly difficult to sum up. Without sounding all ComicalJon, we did get off to a great start, and there was certainly no worry that we weren't up for the game, or intimidated at the League Leaders coming to town.

But goals change games as the cliché goes, and once we found ourselves 2-0 down with a mountain to climb (there's another one). We rallied well, and half time couldn't come soon enough for the Bees. But they put on a master performance in the second half, in which they allowed us no time on the ball whatsoever, and stole all the time in the world every time the ball went out of play. Sour grapes? Not at all, it was exactly the sort of performance which brings promotion.

The only change in our starting line up was the return of Nathan Stanton, who was forced to sit out the draw with Morecambe earlier in the week. He came in for Simon Ramsden who was forced to make do with a place on the bench.

As mentioned earlier, we got to what seemed to be a very good start. With the pitch sprinklers on just before kick off, we knocked the ball about freely and the league leaders were on the back foot. Arguably, they couldn't get out of their own half in the opening stages, and if this game was about standing up to be counted, then we were stood fifty feet tall.

And we came so close to making the breakthrough. The neat passing did the trick with Chris Dagnall breaking free of the Bees' backline. He managed to get to the ball marginally before opposition keeper Hamer did, with a speculative lob over Hamer's head. It looked like it had no chance of going in from my vantage point, but it took the cross bar to deny Dagnall from adding to his eight goals for the season.

Within seconds the whole complexion of the game changed.

With their first foray into our half, the Bees pushed through a challenge from Stanton outside of the box, leading to a fine save by Fielding which then required a clearance from Kennedy to prevent it being poked home at the far post. In clearing the ball, the Brentford attacker went down injuring himself.

And then all hell broke loose. It appeared at first that the ref blew up to allow treatment to the Bees attacker as the ball was on its way out for a Brentford throw in. But something seemed amiss, and with the ref approaching his linesman it seemed like anything could happen at this point. The Dale players surrounded the ref and at first I thought that a penalty had been awarded such was the protests. A yellow card was brandished at Stanton, and a free kick given outside of the box in an area which was probably ten yards at the very least away from the nearest player.

It later transpired that the referee is his wisdom had decided to stop play to caution Stanton for dissent after a Brentford handball in the build up went unpunished, and given that the ball was on its way out of play at the time when he blew his whistle, it's approximate location was decided to be the place where a free kick would take place. Without doubt, the worst and most bizarre decision that I've seen in over twenty five years of watching Dale.

Of course, the incompetence of the official should not excuse our poor defending from the free kick. We might lack height throughout the side, putting us at a disadvantage from set pieces, but former Dale loanee Jordan Rhodes is hardly a Kevin Francis, and he headed home unchallenged to give the visitors the lead.

A few minutes later, and Brentford made their second entry into our half and scored again. They broke down their left wing, and passed Wiseman like he wasn't there. The ball was crossed to Charlie Macdonald who broke free of an inattentive Nathan Stanton by taking three steps back and he had all the room in the world to side foot the ball into the back of the net.

Well the last time a team nicknamed the Bees came to Spotland, we found ourselves 2-0 down before coming back to win 3-2, but Brentford were certainly no Barnet and history was not to repeat itself.

We made a go at it. The second goal seemed to wake us from the effect of the first goal, and I think it was fair to say we didn't treat it as being game over and we continued to push. A two goal lead is one hell of a cushion, but we certainly couldn't be accused of not going for it.

Arguably the biggest danger was conceding a third goal, as with McArdle having a game to forget and Stanton looking to be still carrying the injury that kept him out of the previous game, the Bees attackers were having a field day, and at one point they even missed an open net.

But we did get back into the game. A cross into the box was handled by a Brentford defender, with replays later confirming that there was no other possible decision that could be given other than the resultant penalty. TK stepped up and again showed how deadly he is from twelve yards.

The Bees were undoubtedly on the back foot at this point, and half time couldn't come quick enough for them. Even the Bees manager got in on the defending by diverting a ball back into play to hold things up. For all his anti Mark Wright stuff, it seems he's picked up on some aspects from the Chester manager.

The feeling at half time amongst the supporters that I spoke to was one of optimism, and that the game was very much there still to be won. We'd had Brentford on the back foot, and it we could have a second half of more of the same, then who's to say that we could at the very least get back on level terms.

The appearance of Keith Hill in the dugout before the players had returned suggested that harsh words were given before a few words of encouragement from Dave Flitcroft has he reappeared as the team eventually returned to the field.

But the expected second half onslaught never came. Not through a lack of effort, or a lack of trying different things, but down to a perfect display by the opposition. They gave us nothing at all, with their wide men acting as the front line of defence, meaning our wingers had a huge job every time they tried to break through. Every time we had the ball, we were pressed and often forced into passing backwards as we came up against an immovable brick wall in the form of the Brentford defence.

Professional was the name of the game for the Bees, and they used every opportunity to eat up the remaining time. Goal kicks saw sides swapped every time, and every throw in took thirty seconds or so to take. In doing so, they ensured that the game was played at their pace, and even though they lacked possession for much of the second half, they were still the ones dictating what was happening.

It wasn't a complete backs to the wall job from them though. In sitting back, they also looked for any opportunities they could and they could again have added to their tally. Sometimes their attacks were their own skill, and sometimes we did our very best to gift them chances, being caught in possession or trying fancy things which were never going to come off.

We tried swapping things round, and we ended up with practically every forward available to us on the pitch at the same time. The cheering from certain quarters to Joe Thompson's substitution proved beyond any doubt that he is judged on being Joe Thompson rather than on performances. If that was classed as a poor performance than it shows just how spoilt Dale fans have become in recent years.

We ended up with Evil playing a central role, with Alfie and Daggers either side of him, but it seemed to result in a more direct style from ourselves which proved to be no more difficult for Brentford to deal with, and aside from a late scramble following a spill by the Bees keeper in the final minute, the equaliser looked to be never on the cards, and ultimately you couldn't argue with the result when the referee blew for full time.

Did the referee cost us the game? Well based on the overall ninety minutes, the Bees had the better chances and should certainly have added to their two goals from their numerous chances, but that decision led to the goal which changed the whole pattern of play for the rest of the game. Had it not happened, then who knows how the game would have panned out but what ifs and maybes don't get you points on the board.

As you'd expect, failure to win brought about the necessity of a scapegoat, and the list could have been written before the game. In fact, it probably was given how some Dale fans apportion blame onto whom they want to pin things on. But on the whole, the final whistle saw the efforts applauded and there was no repeat of Tuesday's booing.

Photo: Action Images

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