Match on? Check. Dale win? Check. Clean Sheet? Check. Survival ensured? Ooh bit early to be claiming things like that, but this win will go a long way towards ensuring that our prolonged stay in our division continues. Full match report now online.

Winning today was the vital thing. Make no mistake about that. We can worry about the performance now that the game is over, but today was just about ensuring that we got the three points which have taken us to the brink of safety and has ensured that we can look back at this Easter weekend as job done.

So are we safe yet? Clearly not mathematically and it would be foolish to start thinking that we are. There's always a couple of twists before the end but this does give us breathing space. And before anyone gets carried away, avoiding the drop does not equate to success and should not been as that. This was all about relief.

Peterboro, who by all accounts are the pride of Yorkshire, came into town with former Rochdale resident Ron Atkinson sat in their dugout and half a dozen cameras around the ground as part as some documentary that is planned. They brought with them play off ambitions of their own, sitting in seventh place but come the end of the season when the post mortems of our own season take place, if this is the standard of the play off teams, it will show just what a missed opportunity this season will have been.

This was an improved performance by Dale. You could argue that it was still far from what we should be seeing, but this was at the very least a step in the right direction and for that, we are tonight thankful. We played a 4-4-2 with Cartwright brought in for his first start since February, with Kitchen switched over to his more natural left hand side.

First half was pretty even, with perhaps the better of the chances falling to ourselves. Lee Cartwright came close to giving Dale the lead when he absolutely launched the ball goalwards from the edge of the box after good work from Chris Dagnall but it was dealt with comfortably by the Peterboro keeper Tyler.

It was the same keeper Tyler who nearly gifted Dale the lead. He came out to clear the ball but spooned his clearance in the direction of Dale captain Gary Jones. Unfortunately, Jonah outspooned Tyler and his volley went about 30 yards away from the empty net.

At the other end, we were looking much more solid defensively with the only trouble coming courtesy of a mix up between Jackson and Gilks. Jackson called for it, but then seemed to leave it for Gilks who'd left it for Jackson. Fortunately, the Peterboro forward line including the clinically obese looking Crowe could not take advantage of it.

Second half started with Dale looking a touch jittery, something which seemed to affect us progressively up until our goal. There were mistakes aplenty taking place, and if anything, you'd argue that the visitors were looking the more likely of the two teams to score. Indeed, the first real chance of the second half came to Posh. A ball from the right wing was crossed over and all Logan had to do was get something on it, and it would have been in. Thankfully, he didn't.

If that wasn't enough to worry us, Gareth Griffiths got in on the act. He launched the ball back to Gilks which arrived at head height. It was more of a just getting a foot on it rather than a deliberate pass but it was enough to act as Senokot for all concerned and there were plenty of calls from the away end as Gilks grasped it with both hands.

The unease was growing, and you could see how it was affecting some of the players. Rickie Lambert found himself needlessly booked when he continued to berate the referee following a decision which had gone against Dagnall.

The winner came came with about twenty minutes to go. With frustration starting to grow around the ground, Iyseden Christie was introduced as part of a double situation which also saw John Doolan brought on to replace Ben Kitchen and Ernie Cooksey respectively and it was the former Kidderminster striker who settled the match.

Rickie Lambert hit a shot from outside the box which should never had troubled the keeper. It was low, and didn't seem to be affected by any bobbles from the pitch but the Posh keeper Tyler made a real hash of it, and Christie nipped in to finish off the rebound to give Dale the lead. It showed an excellent striker's instinct from Christie and just what we all want to see from him.

But aside from the goal, it has to be said that Christie had another shocker. I've always been a big fan of him throughout his career but he has certainly not performed for this club as he should have done. His debut at Oxford indicated that he hasn't lost all previous abilities but if he is to prove that he has something to offer at this club, then he needs to do more than just throw himself to the floor inside the opponent's penalty box. Let's hope that the problem thus far has been confidence related and his first real goal for the club today will go a long way to addressing those issues, though I'm far from convinced.

The rest of the game was the sort of game that had the game been played in October or November, I'd have described as playing out until the final whistle. Certainly, we weren't troubled by Peterboro during the remainder of the game, but given our current desperation for points, our total inability to keep a clean sheet and events on Saturday proving just what can happen late in a game, the remaining twenty minutes weren't going to spent discussing possible plans for the Bank Holiday evening.

It was actually us who came closest to adding to our list when Lambert and Dagnall linked up well, but it was not to matter one bit as referee Ilderton blew up to ensure victory for Dale.

Of course, I'd like to take half the credit for the Dale win today. Given that we'd allowed our opponents to score first in our last twelve home matches, a few pence was staked on Posh to open the scoring today, with Dalebet offering a very generous 11-10 on them to do so. Of course this was done to ensure Sod's Law dictating Dale would score first rather than a serious attempt to profit from Dale's defensive frailties.

Whilst certainly not getting carried away with a 1:0 win against a poor Peterboro side, there was enough there to suggest that things can be built on in the Summer. Ramsden looks an excellent capture, and we look more solid at the back now with Jackson playing regular. A clear out is required, of that there is no doubt, but there's glimpses that with the right Summer signings, we should not have to endure a repeat of 2005-6.

Man of the match for me was defender Gareth Griffiths. A stoic performance by him at the back and apart from one scare where he launched the ball back towards Gilks, he did everything that was asked of him. I know Griffiths hasn't always been everyone's cup of tea during his five year spell at the club, but he'll be missed when he hangs his boots up at the end of the season.

So we reach 50 points for the season - a points tally which in any other season has been more than enough to ensure a bottom two position is avoided. We'll have to see whether that remains enough but tonight we can look back on Easter as a successful points return. Job done.

Photo: Action Images

Rochdale Polls