Mon 1st January 2007- 3pm

 0

Rochdale

4 

 1

 Phil Barnes

1

Matt Gilks

 2

 John McDermott

2

Simon Ramsden

 3

 Tom Newey

12

Alan Goodall

 16

 Danny Boshell

23

Rory McArdle

 5

 Nick Fenton

18

Nathan Stanton 46

 7

 Isaiah Rankin 65

8

Gary Jones

 4

 Gary Harkins

5

John Doolan

 23

 Nick Hegarty 46

27

Will Mocquet 77

 17

 Peter Till

 11

Adam Rundle 86

 14

 Martin Patterson

9

Chris Dagnall

 11

 Athony Pullis 46

17

Glenn Murray

Substitutes

22

 Danny North 46

 13

Lloyd Rigby 

13

 Robert Murray

 15

 Joe Thompson 86

12

 Ricky Ravenhill

 19

Lee Crooks 46

8

 Paul Boland 46

 4

Ernie Cooksey 

9

 Michael Reddy 65

 14

Gary Brown 77

SCORERS

BOOKINGS

Stuart Ashworth at  Blundell Park

Rochdale began the New Year as they ended the last, with a four nil win and it's a victory that will go some way to convincing the board at Rochdale AFC the hunt for a new manager is over.

Caretaker boss Keith Hill helped secure back-to-back 4-0 wins and in truth the scoreline from BlundellPark flattered the Mariners. Dale had countless opportunities to increase their lead and only a lack of care in front of goal prevented them from doing so.

Not to take anything away from Rochdale, they largely commanded proceedings despite the home side coming out strong in both halves and it was a performance that bettered that seen at the weekend.

Keith Hill chose to go with the same side that beat Boston so convincingly on Saturday with the only change coming with the injured Callum Warburton making way for Ernie Cooksey on the bench.

The home side began the game very strongly and they created a couple of good early chances leaving Town boss Alan Buckley wondering how his side hadn't found the back of the net.

With just three minutes played Rory McArdle, hindered by a strong swirling wind headed back across his 18-yard line gifting a great chance for Nick Hegarty but the midfielder could only guide his header into the arms of 'keeper Matt Gilks from inside the area.

Two minutes later Grimsby's best player on the night Martin Patterson managed to curl an effort goalwards from just outside the box with his left foot but Matt Gilks managed to tip the ball over with relative ease.

Grimsby backed and buoyed by the wind at their backs continued to ensure Dale remained firmly on the back foot but their dominance came to a close after a hooked effort Harkins was saved well by Gilks.

A minute later Rochdale shifted up a gear and began to ask questions of their hosts, closing down space and giving the Grimsby players little or no time at all on the ball.Frustratingly for the Mariners it meant passes and decisions were hurried leading to mistakes and Keith Hill's side wasted no time in exploiting the errors.

With Dale pressing to open the scoring, Adam Rundle was unlucky to see his firmly struck shot following a blocked Gary Jones effort, saved by 'keeper Phil Barnes and a minute later a cross-shot by the progressive Will Mocquet also needed the intervention of the Grimsby 'keeper.

As the clock ticked to 13 minutes Rochdale opened the scoring through former Grimsby Town player Simon Ramsden.The Dale defender, up for a freekick, was in the right place to hook a Glenn Murray nod back into the top corner sparking celebrations by the 250 or so Dale fans behind Matt Gilks' goal.

The goal ended Dale's pure dominance on proceedings to some extent with the game becoming more balanced and both sides creating chances.With half an hour played it looked as though Grimsby would find the goal to bring the game level, but Isaiah Rankin was expecting Alan Goodall to come sliding into the box and nipping the ball away before the striker could pull the trigger.

A couple of minutes later Rochdale broke and a delightful ball into the path of Gary Jones via the chest of Glenn Murray saw Rundle slotted in, but again his effort was saved by Barnes.

Rochdale 'keeper Matt Gilks also came to the rescue with a save on 35 minutes after Danny Boshell found himself in space on the left side of the box.After losing Mocquet with a neat turn Boshell smashed his rising shot towards the goal but Gilks got two strong hands to the ball, pushing it over for a corner.

With a couple of minutes added on at the end of the half Rochdale doubled their lead after a short corner routine caught Grimsby cold.John Doolan received the ball from Mocquet before steering a deep cross towards Murray on the back post.The on loan Carlisle striker rose unopposed to head home sending Dale into the break with a two goal cushion.

The second half started with Rochdale making a change. Nathan Stanton made way for Lee Crooks after picking up a groin strain.Changes were made in the Grimsby ranks too with manager Alan Buckley replacing Hegarty and Pullis for Bolland and North.

The changes had the desired effect for the home side early on as they expectedly came out strong.In essence it was a start that mirrored the first half and once again within five minutes of the restart they crafted a chance.

Rankin, for the first time in the game found space wide on the right and delivered a dangerous deep ball into the box.A melee of players charged in to meet it, but it was Dale defender Rory McArdle who bravely got there at the far post to guide the cross out for a corner.

If that goes down as a chance then two minutes later another opportunity for Grimsby could only be described as guilt-edged.The Mariners should have halved the deficit when Patterson out-paced Ramsden down the left and raced through into the Dale box. With defenders trailing in his wake Patterson drove a low shot towards goal but Gilks was equal to it and made the save, pushing the ball out for a corner at his near post.

Rochdale heeded the warning and began to press and with it came chances to increase the lead even further.Chris Dagnall, excellent up front once again, won't want to watch the replay of a cross to the back post in which he somehow managed to head wide from point blank range.

Moments later Dagnall tricked his way through two defenders in a central position on the edge of the box, but after creating the space he wildly lashed at the ball sending it somewhere near the corner flag on the right of the pitch.

However, create enough chances and you'll surely be rewarded and that was the case on 65 minutes.Glenn Murray brilliantly headed a cross back into play when the cause looked lost and Adam Rundle completely free inside the area smashed the ball home in front of the travelling Dale fans.

Those supporters were still relishing the third goal when minutes later they were celebrating once more.A low corner from the left found Simon Ramsden via a deflection seemingly off the face of the front post.Ramsden made no mistake to fire his second of the night and his sides' fourth of the evening.

The win moves Rochdale up to 19^th in the division and thoughts of a relegation dogfight come May will be someone else's if the performance level and results are maintained.

The problem now is one for the Board of Directors who were looking to name Steve Parkin's replacement before the trip to Wycombe on Saturday.

Back-to-back 4-0 wins, a decent comeback against Wrexham and a good showing against MK Dons have thrust Keith Hill into the race for the Spotland hot-seat.

Speaking to Rochdaleafc.co.uk after the game Chairman Chris Dunphy said, "We are delighted with the way things have gone for Keith especially the last two games.

"It's not just the fantastic results; the performances have been equally as good even in the game against MK Dons.

"I have told Keith he will be in charge for the game against Wycombe Wanderers this coming weekend and we have deferred our decision on who will be taking over on a permanent basis until the board meet again on Tuesday."

Match Stats

ATTEMPTS

 12

ATTEMPTS

 18

ON TARGET

 7

ON TARGET

 10

FREEKICKS

 22

FREEKICKS

 12

CORNERS

 9

CORNERS

 8

OFFSIDE

 3

OFFSIDE

 4

YELLOW CARDS

YELLOW CARDS

 2

RED CARDS

RED CARDS

POSSESSION

61%

POSSESSION

39%

Stats by PA

Star Player

Grimsby Town

Rochdale

 Martin Patterson

 Alan Goodall

Managers Comments in Brief

Alan Buckley

Keith Hill

"I'm delighted with the result and the preformance from the players."

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