Rochdale's impressive start to League 2 wasn't evident today as they lost 2-1 away at Darlington who had ten men in the second half. Full match report is now online.

Rochdale hit the road for the third time this season and Darlington was the next stop.  Unfortunately, Rochdale's 100% away record this season didn't continue as they were beaten 2-1 by the Quakers at the Reynolds Arena, sorry Williamson Motors Stadium.

Steve Parkin was forced into making a change to the squad with Lee Cartwright out of the squad with strained ankle ligaments picked up at the weekend.  He was replaced in the squad by Tommy Jaszczun but other than that, the team remained the same.  Matt Gilks was in net with Jamie Clarke, Alan Goodall, Tony Gallimore and Jon Boardman in defence.  Scott Warner retained his place despite Neil Brisco being back in contention and he lined up alongside Ernie Cooksey and Tommy Jaszczun in midfield.  Blair Sturrock, Rickie Lambert and Grant Holt were up front.  Danny Woodhall, Rory McArdle, Neil Brisco, Ben Kitchen and Clive Moyo Modise were on the bench.

The first half was void of any action for the most part with us discussing what I could actually write about at one point and we struggled to come up with an answer!

Erm, Rickie Lambert had two freekicks which didn't find the target, the first was just over the bar and the other hit the wall and went out for a corner.

Tommy J had his first real goal attempt for the club when he volleyed goalwards from the edge of the box but his effort was claimed by Bossu though he did initially spill the effort.

Rochdale should actually have been ahead after about half an hour when a long ball forward eluded the defender and set Sturrock through with only the keeper to beat but he couldn't control the high ball and the keeper claimed it instead.

Darlington took the lead about ten minutes before half time and it came courtesy of more poor defending from Dale.  Ryan Valentine ran through the defence and Gilks came charging out to meet the ball and got to the ball but unfortunately his clearance was deflected off Valentine and straight into the path of Simon Johnson who was all alone having not been picked up and he was left with a tap in to make it 1-0 to Darlo.

That was it for the first half and the referee blew for the end of a very poor half.

The second half started better for Rochdale and they got back into the game a bit more but it wasn't until the hour mark when Dale got their reward.  Rickie Lambert was being held in the box and the referee pointed to the spot and with Matthew Clarke having denied him a goal scoring opportunity, the only option was a red card for Clarke to the disappointment of the home fans.  With the regular penalty taker Gary Jones suspended, Grant Holt stepped up and dispatched it brilliantly into the left hand side sending the keeper the wrong way.  This made it 1-1 and was Holt's fifth league goal in six games.

Dale had more chances to score and take the lead but they couldn't find the net again with Goodall having a shot blocked and Holt heading on target but Bossu managed to save but Darlington started to attack more.

One such attack came courtesy of a Jamie Clarke mistake and he was lucky that Matt Gilks managed to pull off a superb save to keep the score at 1-1.

Holt could have scored again shortly after that when he shot in the box but his effort went into the stand and he was angry with himself over the effort. 

Clive Moyo Modise replaced Blair Sturrock for his debut in professional football and shortly after that, Scott Warner made way for Neil Brisco.

On seventy minutes, Darlington took the lead again and this time it was through Carlos Logan who turned a little too easily on the edge of the box and drove the ball past Gilks into the far bottom corner to make it 2-1 to the ten men of Darlo.

From then on it was more like the first half for Rochdale with countless passes not finding their man and Dale giving possession away far too easily for my liking and it wasn't pleasant to watch at all.

Grant Holt could have stole an equaliser late on when a clever Lambert corner was floated low to the front post and Holt volleyed but Valentine cleared the effort off the line.

The referee blew for time and Dale went home with nothing and they didn't deserve anything in all honesty after a very poor performance.  This was the first time Dale have lost away from home since Southend back in March.

Torquay are next up for Rochdale on Saturday with a 12noon kick-off.

Photo: Action Images

Rochdale Polls