Rochdale managed to get a point against promotion hopefuls Grimsby Town thanks to an injury time goal from Rickie Lambert. Full match report and player ratings online now.

Dale in half decent performance shocker!  Dale finally managed to play Grimsby at Spotland after God knows how many postponements and even took a well deserved point from the game and could have taken all three.

It was a valuable point which we need to build on but it's hardly unlike Rochdale to put in a good performance one week and then completely forget how to play football the next.  There is added pressure to do well on Saturday with it being the bury game and should we fail to, it may get a bit ugly.  On the other hand, a win could see us gain a bit of positive momentum, something not seen for bloody ages it seems.

Upon arriving at the ground I was informed of the team and was told that Parkin was reverting back to a 4-4-2 which was fair enough but the biggest surprise was that Simon Ramsden was going to be our right winger with Rory McArdle playing at right back.  To be fair to McArdle, he's not been overly disastrous when he's played at right back but I still wasn't confident.  While I was pleased that Griffiths and Jackson were both starting, I had a bad feeling that their lack of match practice could be a big disadvantage.  The team in full was, Gilks, McArdle, Gallimore, Jackson, Griffiths, Ramsden, Cooksey, Doolan, Jones, Christie and Lambert.

From the start it looked like a different sort of Rochdale than we've seen of late, we looked like we wanted to play and wanted to win.  Ernie Cooksey went close after about ten minutes after a cross from Iyesden Christie caused problems in the box.  Cooksey's effort seemed to be cleared off the line.

Just as things were looking up, Dale went 1-0 down just after twenty minutes.  The Grimsby danger man Michael Reddy picked the ball up on the right and ran with it towards goal.  He battled with Mark Jackson and had just about got the better of him with his pace before Jackson fouled him just inside the box and the referee awarded the penalty.  Many around me were furious with the decision but my initial reaction was that it was a stonewall penalty and I had no complaints but I've not seen a replay as yet.  Ciaran Toner stepped up to take the penalty and he sent Gilks the wrong way in front of the Sandy Lane faithful.

With that goal came my expectation that we'd go to pieces then and concede a couple more in what would be a convincing Grimsby victory but that wasn't exactly the case.

Iyesden Christie nearly got Rochdale back in it after bursting through the defence and getting a shot away but the Grimsby keeper made a very good stop to keep it at 1-0.

Gary Jones had a shot blocked as Dale continued to press and Iyesden Christie had another good chance similar to his last one but after going through one on one with Mildenhall, he couldn't make the most of it and the keeper made the save.

Dale went into the half time break 1-0 down but there was enough in the first half to suggest we could possibly get something out of the game I thought.

With five minutes of the half gone, Rickie Lambert let rip with a blistering effort which just whistled past the post.  Lambert had shown just what a classy player he is from the first whistle.  He's been a different gravy since he was named Dale's best player in FourFourTwo mag. 

Just a minute later and Dale managed to get that equaliser.  The only problem was that I didn't see it!  I was busy appealing for a penalty when Simon Ramsden somehow bagged his first ever Dale goal after a Rickie Lambert free kick was awkward for the defence and keeper to deal with.  Griffiths was shoved in the back when the ball came in and I was appealing along with others in the stand, I then looked around in disbelief and as I turned round, our site editor Col starts jumping up and down celebrating and the next thing I see is Harry Ramsden running off celebrating!

Dale continued to attack and looked quite impressive with their new look side and it was Rickie Lambert and the new right winger Simon Ramsden impressing the most.

The referee was the centre of attention midway through the half as Rochdale were denied two penalties.  Huge appeals went up from the fans in the Sandy Lane for a possible handball but I didn't think it was.  The second shout however was blatant and again, it was waved away much to the anger of the fans.

Simon Ramsden was then taken off by Steve Parkin and replaced by Lee Cartwright.  The initial reaction was one of amazement and Parkin's mentality, let alone ability were called into question with this substitution.  We assumed he must have been injured given the bizarreness of the decision.  It was found out later that he had picked up a hamstring injury.

The substitution put us at a disadvantage as soon as it happened.  We lost our momentum and our right hand side lacked defensive ability and I feared Grimsby might get more out of the game because of this.

Dale nearly took the lead from a Ramsden corner when McArdle of all people headed goalwards but his header was blocked on the line by Iyesden Christie!! 

Mark Jackson was struggling for fitness and was taken off after about seventy eight minutes and Jon Boardman came on for him.  Quite an unwelcome sight.

With less than ten minutes left, my fears of another Grimsby goal were proven to be accurate.  Lee Cartwright was beaten on the half way line by Michael Reddy who then proceeded to take the piss out of Rory McArdle as well, nut-megging him in the process on the edge of the box, a challenge came in and the ball fell to Bolland who curled it past Gilks into the far corner to make it 2-1.

Chris Dagnall came on for Jon Doolan and Dale went 4-3-3 to try and get something out of the game.

Three minutes of stoppage time was shown on the fourth official's board and with just a couple of minutes of stoppage time left, Rochdale got their equaliser again!

A corner was awarded and Lambert swung it in to the mixer, it evaded everybody and went straight into the far corner to make it 2-2.  This capped off a stunning performance from Lambert and he deserved a goal and the vast majority of the ground was delighted he got one.

The game finished 2-2 and it was encouraging.  It was even celebrated like a win!

It's derby day on Saturday as Rochdale make the short journey to Giggle Lane.

Player Ratings:

Matt Gilks 7 Had a decent game, no chance with either goal.

Rory McArdle 6 Not disastrous but not overly impressive either.  Still makes stupid mistakes but his heading has improved slightly.

Tony Gallimore 7 Typical Gallimore, calm and composed as usual

Mark Jackson 7 First home game for Jackson and other than giving the penalty away, he did well I thought.  A very vocal defender which can only be a good thing

Gareth Griffiths 7 Glad he's back, we look so much better in defence with him there it's unreal.  We can win headers with him there!

Simon Ramsden 8 Absolute quality.  Bagged a goal and looked very impressive on the right wing.  His crossing ability is excellent and he looks like a tremendous signing.

Ernie Cooksey 7 Much improved from Cooksey I thought, plenty of running and he caused them problems. 

Gary Jones 6 The midfield wasn't particularly impressive I thought, they weren't as involved as they should have been

John Doolan 6 See Jones

RICKIE LAMBERT 9 Awesome performance.  Bagged a goal straight from a corner, showed some awesome touches that didn't belong in our division and got another assist, not bad for a nights work.

Iyesden Christie 7 Much better from Christie.  Proved to be a handful throughout but there are times when he does look lazy which people pick up on.

Subs:  

Lee Cartwright 6 Did little in his twenty five minute spell to impress.

Jon Boardman 6 Came on for Jackson with about ten minutes to go, maybe slightly more.  Not on long enough to make a huge cock up

Chris Dagnall 6 Didn't touch the ball after coming on after eighty two minutes

Photo: Action Images

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