This was perhaps the most one sided 1-0 that you will ever see in your life, and supporters of both clubs seemed in full agreement as they walked away from the Pro Star with contrasting facial expressions, that the 1-0 scoreline flattered our hosts, and it could and should have been many more.

Shrewsbury has always been a welcoming town for Dale, both on and off the pitch, and with Dale having scored four goals in this town on three separate occasions over the past ten years, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that another such scoreline was on the way.

We had three changes from last week's game, as we approached the game with the sort of line up that we played at Macclesfield. Craig Dawson, complete with mask, was rested for superhero duties elsewhere, Kallum Higginbotham came in for just his second start of the season, and Jason Taylor was recalled from his two game exile.

In terms of formation, I don't have a clue. O'Grady was wider than he's played before, spending most of his time drifting out to the left, as did Gary Jones who had wing like tendencies in the first half. Both full backs seemed to be asked to play in defence and in midfield. And Kallum Higginbotham was instructed to go and do whatever he wanted as we afforded him a free role.

Identifying the formation and tactics wasn't helped at all by the two teams wearing a kit that was almost impossible to distinguish between. Certainly in the sunnier first half, with 90% of the play taking place at the far end from where Dale were housed, it was pot luck for most of the time as to which side had the ball as our purple didn't look a million miles from the home side's blue kit. When crosses came in, it was a case of holding your breath and hoping that the bloke at the far end was one of our's.

I was expecting an onslaught from the Shrews, similar to the one they threw at us in the first half at the ProStar last year. All the ingredients were there. Obviously, Simmo didn't need to be up for this game, but with the Shrews coming away from Spotland as 4-0 losers back in December and suffering a similar hammering at Grimsby last week, I think it was inevitable that we'd see some sort of reaction from the home side, where they hammered home the point that they had to prove.

And we waited, and we waited and we waited.

Nothing happened.

For right from the opening seconds, this was a walkover, and with the possible exception of a five minute spell at the start of the second half, I can't recall any period of the game where they looked capable of challenging us. As reactions go, this was about as limp as it gets, and the final result was never in doubt even long before Joe Thompson headed us to another three points.

We came close to scoring in the opening five minutes when a Tom Kennedy free kick fooled everyone before cannoning off the far post with keeper Button oblivious to everything. Unfortunately for us, it was a home defender that rescued the rebound.

There was perhaps only one moment of the first half worthy of note from the home side, when recent loan signing Jamie Cureton, ironically available following Grant Holt taking his place at Norwich, took advantage of some space with a long range effort, but Fielding's acrobatic save made it look closer than it actually was.

Our defence were right at the top of their game, and they were effectively forced into long range hopeful efforts because of this. Stanton and McArdle played almost with an arrogance that despite their full backs usually being somewhere up the other end of the field, nobody would be getting past them.

My favourite moment of the first half emphasised just why we are where we are. A Shrews attack was broken up by a makeshift left back by the name of Christopher O'Grady, and whilst other teams might have looked to get rid, it was another excuse to launch an attack, and after good work involving Dagnall, it was O'Grady left with the final chance just a matter of seconds since putting the defensive shift in.

With Higginbotham causing all sorts of problems in all areas of the pitch, it seemed almost inevitable that at some stage we would take the lead.  The former Oldham man had responded fantastically well to being given a place in the starting line up, and his personal improvements were there for all to see.

With half time approaching, a cynical foul just outside of the Shrewsbury box gave Kennedy another chance from a free kick. His curled effort crashed off the woodwork with Shrews loan keeper Button nowhere to be seen.

Ordinarily, I often get concerned when we dominate a half like that but have nothing to show for it. It's almost as if, we've missed our opportunity but I had no such worries about this game. The belief is that a goal will come at some stage, and you don't have to win a game in the first 45 minutes. In fact, I don't remember ever being as confident about a victory with the game level before as I was at half time on Saturday.

Half time came and went, and did we really hear a Mr B. Ellend winning the half time draw, or has my hearing become Vizzified throughout the current slump?

After an impressive opening couple of minutes by Dale, it was the home side who perhaps had their best spell of the game as for arguably the first time all day, they got to grips with our midfield, enjoying some possession of their own.

They came close to taking the lead, with Cansdell Sherriff hitting the woodwork with a decent Craig Dawson impression from the Aussie. His header from a corner rebounded off a post but his follow up was from too tight an angle.

That bit of spell was nowt but a blip, and we very quickly went back to pressurising the hosts, and a snapshot by Gary Jones came mightily close to giving us the lead as we footballed around the Shrews area.

Jonah had a good chance to backing up the Rooney bald spot header theory as a cross came over shortly after but he left it for someone in a better position behind him, only to find that the purple shirt was in fact blue.

But Cometh the hour, cometh the ............ Actually we've used that line before this season. Probably several times. But that in itself sums us up.

That goes to show that within this Dale side, we aren't over reliant on any one individual, and ignoring the awful Americanism, any member of the side is prepared to step up to the plate when required. We're not looking around for someone else to be the difference, we are all capable of doing so. Team Rochdale has never been quite so apt.

And so the boy Thompson proved yet again to be Rochdale's own version of Darren Fletcher. He'd been on for a matter of seconds replacing the tiring Higginbotham when he did his bit to get his home town team promoted, and ensured that Dawson isn't the only local lad stealing the headlines.

The goal came from a free kick that few could argue with despite the ridiculous reaction by Coughlan as he blocked the run of one Dale attacker outside of the box.

TK curled a peach of a ball towards the back stick, and Joey T was there to head home to send the 700 strong away following into ecstasy. There was a hint of a possible foul by McArdle as the free kick came over but it would have had little impact on the ball coming off Thompson's head and past his former team mate Button.

1-0 to Dale and thirty minutes remaining. Would we finally get the Shrewsbury reaction?

No.

This season has shown that if we score first then chances are we're going to win. There's only been the games at Crewe and Aldershot where a side has come back from a Dale lead to get anything from the game, such is our ability to dominate a game with the lead.

And it was business as usual, as we looked to pick off Shrewsbury at will as the gaps started getting bigger and bigger. Even with the lead, we still looked the only side capable of adding to the scoresheet.

Arguably our best effort was thwarted by downright cheating by former Dale loan player Shane Cansdell Sherriff. He tried getting clever with Chris Dagnall only to stumble on the ball, and fall on it, and Daggers as we know needs no invitation to take advantage. He immediately pounced and he basically had the whole of the Shrews half to himself.

Sherriff took one for the team and hauled Dagnall down with possibly the most obvious red card that you're ever likely to see in your life, and referee D'Urso didn't need any Roy Keane style hounding to produce that card. Sherriff was widely criticised after the game but his actions were perhaps the only thing keeping Shrewsbury in the game.

Sherriff's time in the firing line might not have gone too well, but his deputy did slightly better in the remaining fifteen minutes of the game. Despite nearly injuring my neck from repeatedly turning round to see how long was left in the game on their geet big scoreboard, it was only really a case of whether we'd add to our tally of goals.

Perhaps at times we were guilty of overplaying it, and a nutmegs with a backheel flick down by the corner flag may well come into this category, but we've earned the right to play this way, and for all it may seem at times that we're knocking the ball around thinking we're Brazil 1970, it's simply a case of not letting the opposition anywhere near the round thing.

Three minutes of injury time was nothing but a formality and aside from Button's venture up the field towards our penalty box for a corner, there was nothing aside from our own in built insecurities to suggest that the result was close to being in doubt, and the final whistle confirmed what we'd known all afternoon.

Promotion challenges aren't meant to be like this. They are supposed to come down to the final game of the season needing a win by a two goal margin, with ear pressed against the radio (or live updates through mobile telephone 3G live internet updates - but the illusion doesn't sound as good when you write that) hoping for the correct result from Gillingham or Darlington.

Our promotion celebration is a long drawn out affair, and the final whistle brought celebrations on and off the pitch which suggested that we're going to be celebrating promotion over and over again at the final whistle until the mathematicians prove what we all know beyond any doubt whatsoever.

The victory took Dale to 72 points - the points total used season in, season out as the benchmark for sides wanting to make the Play Offs. So there we have it, we've made the Play Offs with eleven games to spare. But that is nothing but a meaningless statistic on our way to bigger and better things. I only hope the promotion party doesn't go the same way as we focus our attention on silverware.

I keep looking at the table (it's Footballing Porn), and our remaining fixtures and wondering just where it could possibly go wrong at this stage. Thirty years of following Dale providing those mental scars. Shrewsbury away was one such game that could have thrown a spanner in the works, but after yet another fantastic display by the Dale, the points and plaudits were firmly secure.

The battle between When and If is coming to a close.