| This result will go some way to clearing some of the dark clouds that have been rumoured to be above Spotland. Two games without a win had brought prophecies from some that the end was nigh and that another Black October was on the cards. It was a good performance in patches which brought the victory, despite a worrying spell in the second half, when Dale were under the cosh for a while.
The first half consisted of Dale being in complete control with the visitors failing to register a shot off target nevermind on target. Edwards was a virtual spectator for the entire half, whilst Platt and Ellis came close to scoring for Dale. The second half began like the first one had ended, but two minutes into it, everything seemed to change, and Hartlepool had their best spell of the game which brought them an equaliser, and they managed to cause all sorts of problems, and looked the more likely victors at one point. However a Gary Jones penalty won the game for Dale late in the match.
It was a gloomy day at Spotland with constant drizzle throughout the afternoon. However, there was much to cheer the fans beforehand, with a penalty shoot out between the two mascots taking admiring eyes off our new stand which will open this Tuesday. Manager Steve Parkin opted to go with the same side that picked up a draw at Kidderminster last week, meaning a continuation of the 5-3-2 system that Hartlepool were also using.
The first half, as mentioned above, was all Dale. Hartlepool offered little and were on the back foot throughout. Dale had numerous chances to take the lead, without ever getting out of first gear. It was controlled passing football, with Ellis and Platt cause all sorts of headaches for the Pool defence.
Tony Ellis came close to opening the scoring for Dale when he got a neat little touch on a crossed ball from a corner. Fortunately for the visitors, it was cleared off the line by a Hartlepool defender much to the delight of keeper Williams.
However keeper Williams was thanking his lucky stars a few moments later, when Clive Platt came close to scoring a tremendous goal. He picked up the ball on the right, midway through the Pool half, and ran with it, before unleashing a superb shot, which flew goalwards, only to rebound off the cross bar from a full 30 yards at least. If it had gone it, that would have been a goal talked about for years.
However, we didn't have to wait too much longer for the opening goal, and it was the oldest man on the pitch who scored it after a quarter of an hour. Paul Ware took a corner, which Clive Platt got a head to around the penalty spot, and with everyone expecting Monington to ghost it at the back post, the ball went through to Tony Ford MBE who just needed a little touch to add his second goal of the season to his MBE.
Any fears that this goal would force Hartlepool into action seemed to be unjustified, and the rest of the first half seemed to be very controlled stuff, with the Dale midfield well on top. Dave Flitcroft looked to have shaken off recent poor form, and Gary Jones was running around bossing everything. The Dale defence was in find form when needed, coping well with the physical presence of both Sperrevik and Lormor. Hartlepool had one break not long before half time down the Dale left, but Dave Bayliss produced a wonderful tackle to win the ball.
half time: Dale 1 Hartlepool 0
The second looked set to continue in much the same vein as the first half. Dale had two early breaks down the Dale right, with Hartlepool unable to get out of their own half. They had to withstand a small amount of pressure, and it looked like Dale had wrapped up the game in these opening few minutes. A corner came over and Mark Monington cleanly headed home. However, the referee Frazer Stretton decided (probably quite rightly but keep that quiet!) that the goal would not stand as Tony Ellis had obstructed the keeper Williams on the line. Although Ellis did nothing more than stand his ground, he did so in such a way to keep Williams back. However, I don't think Williams would have beat Monington to the ball anyway.
This seemed to be the turning point of the half, as it suddenly sparked United into action. In a similar way to the way that Torquay came back into the match, so did Hartlepool, and they had us on the ropes for around twenty minutes. They went on to have quite a bit of possession in the Dale half and at 4:12 pm they had their first shot of the entire match, even though it went straight into Edwards's hands.
However, Dale failed to act upon this warning sign, and Hartlepool followed up on this with a couple more shots soon after. An equaliser was always looking to be on the cards, and on the hour mark it came. It came via a poor header by Lee Todd which went spinning in the opposite direction to that which it was intended. It was chased down by a Pool midfielder who crossed the ball into the box. It went straight to Tony Lormor, who played under Parkin at Mansfield, who turned cleverly and fired home for a well taken goal.
Steve Parkin made a change when he brought on Michael Oliver for Paul Ware who had taken one or two knocks during the match. However, this failed to make any immediate impact, and Hartlepool went on the attack looking for a winner. They were well on top at this stage, even when they were reduced to ten men when Gary Strodder was forced to leave the field with a nose bleed.
Dale managed to weather the storm, and came back into the game more, but didn't really threaten much. There were a couple of semi exciting breaks, but they came to nothing due to lack of numbers in support. However, one of these did lead to a Dale equaliser.
Dale were awarded a penalty with just twelve minutes to go, and it was the correct decision by the Nottingham official. Hartlepool were temporarily on the back foot, with a bit of panic spreading into the minds of the home defence. Lee Todd received the ball on the left hand side of the penalty box, and he was dragged to the floor. It was a very clear decision for the referee with little complaints other than from the 300-ish Hartlepool fans in the Main Stand.
Gary Jones stepped up to take the penalty against a keeper with a record of saving penalties to match Edwards, but Jones produced a top class penalty sending the ball into the top left corner to seal all three points for Dale.
With time running out, Dale looked very comfortable with their newly regained lead and looked the more likely team to score in the last few minutes. Three minutes of added time did little to worry the home supporters.
full time: Dale 2 Hartlepool 1
All in all, a very welcome three points, which sends Dale back into second place, and sets up a very attractive looking top of the table clash on Tuesday night with Chesterfield.
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