Darlington 1 Rochdale 1
A last gasp goal from substitute Rory Prendergast gave never say die Dale the very least that here performance deserved and made it 4 points in as many days at promotion chasing outfits.
Missing so many key defenders manager Keith Hill returned to the no fear all out attack play of last season and on another night, with a different referee, it may have got the reward of 3 points. As it is with a completeley makesshift defence his side kept the home side at bay whilst themselves playing their full part in a very entertaining game.
As you would expect from a big spending side chasing an automatic promotion spot Darlington started well with Rob Purdie shooting just over from distance, star man Julian Joachim firing across the face of goal and Neil Wainwright forcing a decent save out of the increasingly confident James Spencer.
Slowly but surely though Dale took control and after 16 minutes and following a great piece of trickery by Adam Le Fondre fellow striker Glenn Murray completely missed his kick in front of goal. 90 seconds later after a good patient build up that saw the ball passed from side to side skipper Gary Jones fired just over.
On 28 minutes and for the 2nd time in 4 days Le Fondre appeared to have won a cast iron penalty, this time after being upended by goalkeeper Andy Oakes but instead of pointing to the spot referee Boyeson who was poor throughout opted instead for the yellow card option for so-called simulation on the little strikers behalf.
(different game same outcome)
On 34 minutes after a trademark burst Gary Jones saw his looping effort clawed away by Oakes who then did superbly 4 minutes later to somehow claw away an exocet of a volley from Ben Muirhead as it arrowed towards the roof of the net from fully 22 yards.
Before the break Le Fondre saw a curler saved by the busy Darlington custodian and as half time approached a wickedly inswinging Adam Rundle corner was somehow palmed away by a keeper who perhaps should have been enjoying an early bath.
At the start of the second half John Doolan fired over from distance before another Rundle cross somehow eluded the onrushing Muirhead at the far post
On the hour an against the run of play the home side took the lead as Joachim escaped the clutches of Dave Perkins for the only time on the night and picked out the incoming Tommy Wright with a perfect cross that was headed into the roof of the net.
Keith Hill's reaction was to bring on Messrs Prendergast and Higginbotham and his side upped the gears to press for an equaliser. It almost came immediately as Higginbotham got away on the right and delivered a great cross that home defender Steve Foster crashed against the underside of the cross bar. Less than a minute later after a flowing move Le Fondre forced another excellent save out of Oakes and it looked like being a good performance but a night of frustration.
With time running out it was all Dale with the home seemingly happy to sit back and hold what they had but a searching diagonal ball into the box from Kelvin Lomax picked out Prendergast and having controlled it on the run he then joyously smashed it past the keeper from 12 yards to send the travelling fans home happy. They had seen their injury ravaged team give of their all and come away from it is a difficult place to collect points from with a very good result.
