Dale and the Stags’ had to
settle for a point a piece on a rain soaked pitch.
Woodall shuffled the pack
after the 2-1 win over Barnet last week having numerous
players both unavailable and available again. Out went
Milnes, Hindle and Kaminskas and Hudson and in came
Crossley and Evans.
It was very much a game of
two halves but Dale took the lead when Lloyd’s shot was
parried for M Woodall to head home. P Woodall was
guilty of letting the ball under his foot on the slippy
surface and the advancing Stag drove his shot into the
top corner to level the scores. Rochdale were guilty of
some more slack defending moments later when another
Stag rose at a corner to head home to make it 1-2.
Dale quickly regained
parity from the penalty spot. M Woodall was felled in
typical fashion and Molloy had no hesitation in pointing
to the spot. P Veevers dispatched the spot kick to level
the scores and from that point on, Rochdale laid siege
to the Stag goal and could have run up a cricket score.
The second half was dominated by the home side with the
Dale rearguard seldom having to break sweat. Further
forward, Lloyd, Woodall and Veevers were guilty of
wasted opportunities. P Woodall and Lloyd both headed
wide from Harwood’s cross and Crossley shot wide in
acres of space after a deft Higginbotham free kick.
Crossley was also booked for obscene comments towards
the linesman. Higginbotham put in a man of the match
performance and was simply awesome but the third goal
eluded the Dale and they had to settle for a point.
Man of the Match – Ryan
Higginbotham. Superb energy and passing, all over the
pitch and a outstanding performance all round.
