Thetownend.com

Dale lose their third game on the trot 1-0 and again it was a result Parkin's side didn't deserve.  Dale's Matt Gilks made a double penalty save but there was nothing he could do with a bullet header from Alan Goodall just before half-time.

Rochdale manager Steve Parkin opted to pack his defence with five men at the back adding Jon Boardman to Tuesday nights rear guard quartet.

Iyseden Christie booked on 23 seconds after a fruitless attempt to keep the ball in, sliding through Adi Williams as he sheilded the ball out of play.

Hesitation in the Dale defensive quarters almost allowed Christian Roberts in but he was guilty of taking his time a little too and Stanton slid across to make the block.

Devoid of quality from both teams with chances on goal at a premium the visitors added more ticks in the attempts column than their hosts, but none troubled 'keeper Peter Brezovan.

 The game really sprang into life after Nathan Stanton and Christian Roberts continued their battle and a strong challenge by the Dale defender on Roberts not only lifted the quiet crowd but earned Stanton a caution.

With minutes before the break Rochdale went from almost taking the lead to conceding within a minute.

Good build-up play by Rochdale down the left earned Dagnall a chance on the edge of the box, but his effort was saved comfortably by the Swindon 'keeper.

20 seconds later a long ball down the left for Swindown was picked up by Roberts and his cross to the back post was met by Rochdale defender Alan Goodall who attempted to steer a header back to his 'keeper and unfortunately powered home instead.

It was a bad end to the half for Dale who had more than held their own against one of the favourites for promotion.

The second half  really sprung into life and a dull first period was quickly forgotten as both tempo and volume were upped.

Sadly the only thing that hadn't changed from the first half was the officials decision making in favour of Dale.  Still in awe of Dennis Wise and Co. referee Lee awarded a 53rd penalty to the home side after a good tackle from Goodall was deemed illegal.

Despite the protests the spotkick was awarded and Christian Roberts stepped up to attempt to rub the salt into the wounds, but Gilks had other ideas and made the save down to his left.

Two minutes later Town striker Roberts' woes continued as he left Jon Boardman for dead down the centre.  Sadly for Roberts he somehow fell as he tried to round 'keeper Gilks, hiding his blushes with lame appeals for another penalty as the ball was cleared.

Roberts did Boardman again on 69 minutes on the edge of the box this time with a superb turn, but his shot didn't match the quality of the trick and Gilks saved easily at his feet.

Swindon Town were again awarded another penalty after a low cross hit the arm of Ernie Cooksey.  With Roberts having a bit of a nightmare Paul Evans stepped up take the kick.  Gilks was again too good and met the driven effort with an out-stretched leg.

With ten minutes to go a rare effort on the Swindon goal for Dale with a long range effort from Lee Crooks was easily saved by Brezovan, though it helped inspire a final flurry to get something from the game, something they thoroughly deserved.

On the final whistle the Swindon fans who surround the press box began singing "We are going up, we are going up," though on the evidence today I don't think it's going to be that easy.




amazing to read the reports on other sites sometimes really isnt it. atleast were staying in the football league.

What a biased load of shit.

They said the same about Carlisle last season.

We've kept 2 clean sheets and won 3 games. They've got 0 points and 0 goals.

Bye bye!!

To be fair the ref won us the game today.  We should have been reduced to 10 men when one of our players pushed a Rochdale player to the floor.  The first penalty from where i sat looked a bit harsh with the Rochdale player making a decent tackle. The second pen was legit though.

Overall we deserved the 3 points.  Rochdale created limited chances but never looked like scoring.  On todays performace tho, Rochdale could well be in the relegation mixer

how does this make sense..oh and the 1st pen was a cert and the 2nd was harsh imo

Ok i shall rephrase my first paragragh.  The ref helped us win the game today by giving Town the majority of the decisions - some of which were dodgey -  eg booking one of our players for blatantly pushing a player on the floor

We deserved to win because we created more chances then Rochdale - who rarely threatened or looked like scorung

I didn't go to the game and I can smell the bias coming off that report!!!

It is ridiculous considering every report I have heard so far contradicts that one

the fact peacock couldn't challenge for the ball in the air without it being deemed a free kick to dale might've been a sticking point. the ref was the best we've had so far, but was still not too eager to punish dale's diving...or cooksey for being a tool

That is the funniest and crappest away report ever. Sour grapes.
At the end of the day if they were that bloody good why did'nt they bloody score!!

they did score Sade!

Agreed. 1st penalty was harsh so it was justice Roberts missed it. The second pen really was a pen and I thought Evans hit it well. Keeper just did well to stop it.
All in all yesterday was a poor game. Rochdale had a game plan and stuck to it. It nearly paid off for them and they could easily have gone home with a point. Luckily they didn't. TOUGH!

Pook barely touched him, it was one of those get out of the way so I can take this kick quickly touches - he literally just touched the guy on the hips and he threw himself to the ground.  If he'd got sent off it would have been an absolute disgrace!

That was Pook wasn't it? By all accounts even if he had gone it wouldn't have changed the game much.

Pook played alright after that though. We need someone to piss him off every game it makes him play better.

This "we are going up" lark after 3 games is pathetic and teams will want to ram that down out throat.

3 games out of 46 ffs.

It's all tounge in cheek at the moment Dave, we know it'll be a long hard slog, but there's nothing wrong with finally having a bit of a swagger to the County Ground.

Of course Tom, it's great to have some positivity around the place and we're right to expect a good season, but it's too early for that- and there are people who already believe it as gospel that we'll go up.

I think we'll do well and it's a terrific start, but as of yet we are not "going up"

Football supporters are prone to getting carried away though, dave, it's always going to happen.  I remember when people used to sing about going to wembley after winning in the third round of the cup.

Hyperbole is part of football chanting as well, by far the greatest team the world has ever seen anyone?  There's nowt wrong with a bit of cockiness to get up other fans noses I don't think, as long as the players don't start believing the hype too much.

I think Wise is perfectly capable of keeping their feet on the ground. He knows as well as anybody that the job is not remotely done yet

But we're 2nd in the league, an automatic promotion spot!

I was sure Pook shoved the Rochdale player in the face.

Am I the only person that thinks that report is a fair reflection of the game? The only thing I'm not too sure about is the 'biased ref', to me he was poor but Rochdale got a few decisions their way which shouldn't have gone their way and so did we imo. I think because most of theirs were in the middle of the park it had little effect though, whereas we got a lot more nearer to their goal in the second half, probably because we actually tried to score.