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Rochdale 1 - 1 Shrewsbury

Richard Partington at Spotland
6/ 5/2008

IT was a case of before the Lord Mayor’s Show at Spotland on Saturday where Rochdale played out their final League Two fixture of the season against Shrewsbury Town.

Focusing on this game – a dead rubber to some extent – was difficult, bearing in mind what is coming up for Dale over the next two weekends.

Assured of playing their second semi-final leg at home, the result here had little relevance, and manager Keith Hill opted to rest some of his big guns.

The likes of Adam Rundle, Gary Jones and David Perkins have worked like Trojans these past few months, their immense contributions dictating inclusion week in, week out while there was still business to be concluded. Here was an opportunity to rest and refresh.

Hill had other reasons for the selection. Fellow play-off contenders Stockport, Darlington and Wycombe were all fielding understrength teams and having been robbed of Nathan Stanton for the first play-off leg at Darlington on Saturday, he wanted to avoid any threat of suspension to his first-choice starting XI.

It was an emotional start to the day with a minute’s applause for David Flitcroft’s father who passed away last week. Flicker was at Spotland on Saturday for the moving tribute to his dad, observed superbly on all sides of the ground.

The visitors were out to sign off in style and started the game well.

James Constable blazed a decent chance over the crossbar while Nathan D’Laryea, who played particularly well alongside Marcus Holness, blocked a run at goal from the dangerous Ben Davies.

Marc Pugh forced a good save from Tommy Lee after improvising to good effect on the edge of the area and while Chris Dagnall tested goalkeeper Scott Bevan with an angled drive in the 22nd minute, Shrewsbury’s pressure finally told when they took the lead just past the half-hour mark.

Davies’ freekick was swung into the area and Dale were unable to deal with it, Asa Hall getting in ahead of Chris Basham to glance the ball past Lee.

Dale improved after the break and were rarely troubled by Paul Simpson’s men in the second half once Dagnall had equalised. The striker pounced after Bevan twice spilled possession, nicking the ball round the goalkeeper and firing into the empty net from the left-hand side of the penalty area.

Adam Le Fondre had an effort ruled offside – picking up a booking for his trouble – and referee Bates was left red-faced later in the game when he issued a yellow card to Ben Muirhead and followed that up with a red, having mistaken the winger for fellow wide man Joe Thompson, booked earlier in the match. It was that kind of day.

Teams:
Rochdale: Lee, Ramsden, Holness (Bowyer 58), D’Laryea, Evans, Thompson, Basham, Doolan, Muirhead, Le Fondre (Buckley 83), Dagnall. Subs not used: Wharton, Brown, Kelly
Shrewsbury: Bevan, Pugh (Hibbert 63), Herd, Kempson, Tierney, Meredith (Leslie 77), Humphrey, McIntyre, Hall, Davies, Constable (Madjo 79). Subs not used: Moss, Garner

Match Facts
Attempts at goal: Dale 15 Shrews 14
On target: Dale 6 Shrews 8
Corners: Dale 6 Shrews 3
Freekicks: Dale 13 Shrews15
Booked: Dale: Thompson, Le Fondre Muirhead. Shrews: Meredith, McIntyre, Pugh

Referee: A Bates (Staffordshire)
Attendance: 4,000

Man of the match: Nathan D’Laryea