Saturday 24th March 2006 - KO 3pm

Bury

 2

Rochdale

 1

 25

Kasper Schmeichel 

1

Matt Gilks

 3

 Tom Kennedy

18

Simon Ramsden 56

 4

 John Fitzgerald

15

Rory McArdle

 5

 David Challinor

5

Gareth Griffiths 86

 7

 Dave Flitcroft

3

Tony Gallimore

 10

 Tom Youngs 74

11

Gary Jones

 11

 Brian Barry-Murphy

22

John Doolan

 12

 Paul Scott

4

Ernie Cooksey 66

 14

 Jon Daly

17

Rickie Lambert

 18

 Lewis Gobern 80

24

Mark Jackson

 32

 Ian Ross

10

Iyseden Christie

Substitutes

 6

Colin Woodthorpe 

7

Lee Cartwright 86

 15

 Chris Brass

21

Ben Kitchen 66

 22

 Matthew Tipton

9

Chris Dagnall 56

 31

 Marc Pugh 80

27

Gary Brown

 33

 Colin Marrison 74

14

Scott warner

GOALSCORERS

 Youngs 33, Gobern 47

BOOKINGS

 Barry-Murphy 80

 Doolan 61

Stuart Ashworth at Gigg Lane

Rochdale boss Steve Parkin made no changes on paper to the side that played so well on Tuesday night, but the change in the performance was incredible.

The effort, endeavour and sheer willingness to win had evaporated faster than an ice-cube in hell.A display against local rivals ranked as woeful by the Dale boss brought questions over his future at the club, questions answered in his post-match interview.

Bury were simply better all over the park, they had the hunger to win and it showed right from the first whistle.It wasn't long before they got their first chance either as the visitors struggled to gain any sort of foothold in the game.Just four minutes had elapsed when Dale's Mark Jackson almost gifted Jon Daly the chance to open the scoring.Jackson, just recovering from a blow to the head that had seen him collapse twice, allowed a ball to bounce over him and an acrobatic hook towards goal was by Daly and fortunately missed by the striker from close range and the ball ended up in the grateful arms of Matt Gilks.

Bury continued to press, bossing the midfield and playing like they had at least three more players on the pitch than Rochdale.

The lively Tom Youngs was proving a real handful for the Rochdale rearguard and he brought Matt Gilks into the game once more following more good build up play by Bury. Jon Daly dissected the Dale defence with a lovely ball to put Youngs through and Gilks did well to deny the Bury man at his front post. The danger wasn't over as the rebound fell kindly to Youngs and only a valiant effort by Tony Gallimore who threw his body in the way prevented the opener.

Gallimore went from hero to zero on 33 minutes though after a poor throw in to Matt Gilks.The attentions of Youngs, who was waiting for the throw back to Gilks put the Dale keeper under pressure and he robbed the Dale 'keeper before slotting home.

With no Dale midfield on show the status quo continued, Bury attacked as Dale defended deep, but they held out until the break and those 1300 supporters from down the road were hoping they'd see a better Rochdale side in the second half.

Sadly, it wasn't to be.Just two minutes into the half Bury doubled their lead after former Stockport man Jon Daly put the ball down the right flank for on loan Lewis Gobern to race onto.The debutant stole a yard on Dale defender Gallimore inside the box and had saw enough of the goal to fire a low shot from the angle.Gilks got down and managed to get a hand on the ball, but the pace of Gobern's effort took into the goal.

Bury created chance after chance and Jon Daly should have made it three just passed the hour after stealing in to meet the ball with a free header.Gilks got down to make a comfortable save to his left, but questions were raised again about a severe lack of marking.

Gilks was again called into action and this time produced a brilliant save to deny Brian Barry-Murphy his first of the afternoon.The Bury midfielder looked odds-on to score as he fired a powerful shot from the edge of the box with just Gilks to beat.The Dale keeper flew into the air to push the ball skywards and was alert to get to his feet to punch the ball away as it came back to earth towards the waiting Bury pack.

At last Steve Parkin's side were finally winning the ball and playing some football and with 71 minutes played they gave themselves a lifeline.Dale crafted an opening with some neat football and gave themselves a lifeline thanks to Gary Jones.The Dale skipper was eventually put through by Rickie Lambert and he made no mistake from 12-yards, firing low into the goal.

Bury for the first time looked nervous and thoughts quickly turned to Dale's encounter with Grimsby in midweek.Sadly, despite giving it a go, Dale couldn't find another way through as a mixture of some determined defending and the referee waving away a strong claim for a penalty after Lamberts drive from outside the box looked to be blocked by an out-stretched arm.

In summary, a poor Dale display and a good one by Bury.They will welcome the three points in their desperate bid to stave off Conference football next season an if they continue to play like they did today - worry not Shaker fans.

Match Stats

Bury

Rochdale

ATTEMPTS

 16

ATTEMPTS

 11

ON TARGET

 15

ON TARGET

 7

FREEKICKS

 13

FREEKICKS

 17

CORNERS

 8

CORNERS

 2

OFFSIDE

 5

OFFSIDE

 2

YELLOW CARDS

 1

YELLOW CARDS

 1

RED CARDS

 0

RED CARDS

 0

POSSESSION

45%

POSSESSION

55%

Match Stats given by PA

Star Player

Bury

Rochdale

 Tom Youngs

Matt Gilks

Managers Comments in Brief

Chris Casper

Steve Parkin

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