Again a small band of Dale fans had turned up to see the lads and they managed to get those much sought after photographs.                                                                

The conditions were quite cloudy today and there was a strong breeze accompanying the clouds, it was a great toss for Gary Jones to win knowing he was only playing the first half, he had no hesitation in turning the teams round so we had the wind at our backs in the first half. 

The starting line up was Sam Russell, Simon Ramsden, Nathan Stanton, Raphale Evans, Tom Kennedy, Ciaran Toner, Gary Jones, Clark Keltie, Kallum Higginbotham, Chris Dagnall and Adam Le Fondre. 

Clark Keltie, Adam Le Fondre and Chris Dagnall all had half chances to open the scoring in the opening quarter of an hour but it wasn't until the 20^th minute that Dale took a very deserved lead, Clark Keltie found space down the right and unselfishly crossed to Daggers who finished from 10 yards. 

The scores were level just before the half hour when the Dale defence allowed a ball to bounce in the box and a sharp Marbella striker hit a first time shot that gave Sam Russell no chance. 

Tom Kennedy of all people had the next chance to score for Dale, having gone on a run he found himself central in space and Clark Keltie's neat through ball gave him the chance but unfortunately it went wide of the post. 

Clark Keltie was involved in most of what we were doing and he scored an early contender for goal of the season, unfortunately its not on tape. Dale won a corner on the right, the ball evaded most and Kelts was beyond the far post and about 12 yards out with a bit of an angle but his sweet left footed volley screamed in to the top left angle of the goal.  

Half time 2-1. 

The much changed line up for the second half was Sam Russell, Simon Ramsden, Scott Wiseman, Nathan D'Laryea, Tom Kennedy, Kallum Higginbotham, Simon Heslop, Kyle Lambert, Ben Muirhead, Will Buckley and Jon Shaw. If you are wondering where Rory the wall McArdle is, don't panic, he was there for a short while but was left out due to a dicky tummy.  

Jon Shaw made an immediate impact on the game and in the first minute of the half only the finger tips of the keeper managed to keep his clever little chip out. 

Five minutes in to the second half Dale increased their lead when a good move down the right had side was finally switched to the left hand side where Ben Muirhead drifted in to side foot home past the keeper.Jon Shaw got his first goal in a Dale shirt, again all the hard work had been done down the right hand side and Shaw had the easiest of headers at the far post. 

Midway through the half Ben Muirhead reacted to a poor challenge, which resulted in both players being shown a yellow card. 

On 70 minutes Dale pressured the Marbella defence in their own box and Kallum Higginbotham intercepted well and left himself the easiest of chances to beat the keeper and make the score 5-1. 

The final goal of the game came in the 75^th minute and will Buckley provided a neat cross from the right for Jon Shaw to sneak in front of his defender and finish from close range. 

The referee played forty two minutes in the first half and just short of 40 minutes in the second half, I know there's a time difference over here compared to back home but that seemed a little strange to everyone. 

It was a good exercise against an enthusiastic Marbella side that managed to stay close to us for 42.5 minutes. All in all a good workout for the lads.