1danewhitehouse
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As I don’t see a report from Deadbat on here, thought I’d throw a brief one together for anyone who’s interested. I’m not trying to steal @Deadbat’s thunder here. I just know that when I’ve not seen a game, I always appreciate being able to read the report of a fellow fan who has been there.
It was honours even at Spotland after a topsy-turvy encounter saw the visitors twice lose the lead in a game that was in danger of falling foul of the weather.
The blades were unchanged from the impressive 2-0 win over Bolton the week before whilst the homes side were delighted to welcome back former Blade Steven Davies from a knee injury having missed his presence sorely over the last 2 months during which time they have somewhat fallen away from the playoff places. They also included former blades Harrison McGahey and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing in their starting 11.
The pitch was awful and it affected the game from the off with an unpredictable bobble at every turn. United got an early boost as a foolish back-pass saw an in-direct free kick awarded in the penalty area early on. The ball was laid off to DUFFY who smashed it into the top corner from around 12 yards. It was a well-taken goal and it gave the large away following a great early boost as they were in fine voice with plenty of tributes for David “Shred” Spencer doing the rounds to mark the 2nd anniversary of his passing (strangely enough, Rochdale away fell at the same time last year making both games “Shred day”).
The home-side were a little shell-shocked and Duffy came again down the right and beat Cannon before putting a cross in. Cannon meanwhile flew in high, hard and late on Duffy resulting in the blades man being down for some time right in the corner between the Dale and Blades fans. This resulted in some posturing and heated exchanges between both sets of fans. It brought a bit of a niggle to a game where previously, it had been quite amiable with home and away fans mingling in “The Dale Bar” prior to the game. After Dale half cleared the free-kick, LAFFERTY struck the ball first time from 30 yards out clean as a whistle into the top corner leaving the ‘keeper with no chance. It was a special strike and it brought chants of “easy” from the away fans as Duffy got back to his feet and goaded the Dale fans in his celebration much to the approval of the visiting contingent.
This seemed to galvanise Rochdale though and they started to come back into the game working some decent crossing situations in wide areas. They went direct from time to time with Steven Davies doing an excellent job leading the line smashing into the centre halves and making it stick. He nearly scored with a spectacular overhead kick but was deemed to have fouled his man on that occasion.
It wasn’t one –way traffic though as Freeman and Duffy tormented Rochdale’s left side throughout the first half with some fantastic pieces of individual skill with both getting to excellent positions at the byline but unable to find Sharp or Hanson in the middle. At one point, they had to move Cannon to the other side as he couldn’t afford to dive in on Duffy again as he would no –doubt receive a 2nd yellow.
Dale got back into the game shortly before half time as a cross was whipped in from deep and flicked home by DAVIES who looked suspiciously offside.
Hanson had an appeal for a penalty turned down as he tried to attack a cross only to be almost undressed by Canavan.
The rest of the half was played out without incident as both teams scrapped for possession on the awful pitch.
The blades began the 2nd half with a change of formation as Carruthers replaced O’Connell as they moved to a 442 with Carruthers and Duffy wide of Fleck and Coutts but they would soon regret it as the home side burst out of the traps and were level almost immediately. Mendez-Laing skinned Lafferty and put a cross over. Moore appeared to flap at a bit. It was retrieved on the opposite side and put back into the area this time to be turned home by LUND for 2-2. Rochdale had the momentum now and were threatening a third.
Wilder saw the error of his ways and returned to 3 at the back bringing Ebanks Landell on for Hanson and pushing Duffy up just off Sharp as United tried to get a foothold in the game.
You could argue it worked as they found themselves ahead again. Basham went on a powerful run down the left and his centre dropped for SHARP who, despite having a quiet game powerfully smashed the ball home despite Davies’ best attempts to clear off the line.
The away following were hopeful that would do it but were soon pegged back again as a cross came over from the left all the way past the entire united Defence to Mendez-Laing who controlled. As Lafferty and Wright both tried to charge the shot down, the Dale winger calmly, took a touch inside taking both out of the equation altogether before slamming past Moore from close range.
It could have got worse for the visitors but for a wonderful save from Simon Moore to keep out a powerful header from Lund.
In the dying moments, Dale were nearly in again despite there appearing to be a clear offside missed by the hapless linesman. Thankfully, Ebanks Landell made an excellent last ditch tackle to deny them.
Lavery replace Duffy as the game petered out with honours even.
Player ratings
Moore- 7.5- Conceded 3. I thought he could have done better with the initial cross for the 2nd but otherwise there was little he could do about the goals. Made a wonder-save to prevent the point from slipping away.
O Connell- 6- Didn’t get on the ball as much as he sometimes does and dale seemed to cause us some problems down his side first half before he was subbed.
Wright- 6- He was steady and his decision making was sound as ever but lost the physical battle with Davies a bit.
Basham- 8- MOM for me. Energetic, tough tackling and went on a couple of mazy runs forward, one of which resulted in our 3rd goal.
Lafferty- 6.5. Got skinned by NML for 2 of their goals but scored an absolute worldy himself.
Freeman- 7.5- One of our better players I thought. He and Duffy caused them a lot of problems down the right in the first half. Perhaps lacked a bit of defensive discipline but that’s what you get with him.
Fleck- 5- The worst game I have seen him have in a blades shirt. Could not do a thing right. Gave the ball away, couldn’t get it under control. I think the pitch was a factor but he just seemed so off the boil.
Coutts- 6.5- Steady. Coped with the pitch better than Fleck did but it wasn’t the sort of game where either could dictate play like they normally do.
Duffy- 7 - Very up and down. Was electric and unplayable at times in the first half but some awful moments of mis-control and poor decision making in the 2nd. Think we saw the best and worst of him Saturday. Took his goal well.
Sharp- 6- Competed with Fleck for our worst performance on the day. Everything seemed to come off him but he salvaged it with a well taken goal.
Hanson- 6.5- Won quite a few headers. His usual limited self with the ball at his feet. The ref gave some awful decisions against him.
Carruthers- 6- Flashes of quality but struggled to really influence the game.
Ebanks- 7.5- Thought he did very well when he came on and gave us a physical edge in a tough game. Made an excellent point saving tackle at the death.
Wilder- 7-.5- I think he made a mistake taking O’Connell off for Carruthers and going 442. But to his credit, he spotted the mistake early and corrected it bringing EEL. Sharp and Fleck were both lucky to avoid the hook but they’ve been so good all season, you daren’t take them off because you know they can produce something that can win you the game and it almost proved so with Sharp scoring the 3rd.
Rochdale- I was quite impressed with them. They have a decent balance between being physical and being able to play a bit. They might also be the fittest side I’ve seen us play this season. The 3 ex blades all gave a good account of themselves. Cannon was a little lucky to stay on following his very poor tackle on Duffy. I would probably say Davies was their MOM as he led the line very well and got himself a goal.
I’ve had a bash at scoring the players but I’m sure there will be loads that disagree. It was a strange sort of game where players would do something exceptionally well at times (Lafferty’s goal, Duffy and Freeman’s fantastic pieces of skill) but then let themselves down (Lafferty getting skinned for 2 goals, Duffy with some awful mis-controls gifting possession etc.). Very few players played well throughout though I felt Basham came the closest to achieving that which is why he got my MoM vote.
As I’ve touched on, the game wasn’t helped by the awful pitch or the awful officials. Some of the missed offside decisions and the decisions against Hanson were infuriating although there were also instances where the ref gave us inexplicable free kicks when there did not appear to have been any offence committed.
It was honours even at Spotland after a topsy-turvy encounter saw the visitors twice lose the lead in a game that was in danger of falling foul of the weather.
The blades were unchanged from the impressive 2-0 win over Bolton the week before whilst the homes side were delighted to welcome back former Blade Steven Davies from a knee injury having missed his presence sorely over the last 2 months during which time they have somewhat fallen away from the playoff places. They also included former blades Harrison McGahey and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing in their starting 11.
The pitch was awful and it affected the game from the off with an unpredictable bobble at every turn. United got an early boost as a foolish back-pass saw an in-direct free kick awarded in the penalty area early on. The ball was laid off to DUFFY who smashed it into the top corner from around 12 yards. It was a well-taken goal and it gave the large away following a great early boost as they were in fine voice with plenty of tributes for David “Shred” Spencer doing the rounds to mark the 2nd anniversary of his passing (strangely enough, Rochdale away fell at the same time last year making both games “Shred day”).
The home-side were a little shell-shocked and Duffy came again down the right and beat Cannon before putting a cross in. Cannon meanwhile flew in high, hard and late on Duffy resulting in the blades man being down for some time right in the corner between the Dale and Blades fans. This resulted in some posturing and heated exchanges between both sets of fans. It brought a bit of a niggle to a game where previously, it had been quite amiable with home and away fans mingling in “The Dale Bar” prior to the game. After Dale half cleared the free-kick, LAFFERTY struck the ball first time from 30 yards out clean as a whistle into the top corner leaving the ‘keeper with no chance. It was a special strike and it brought chants of “easy” from the away fans as Duffy got back to his feet and goaded the Dale fans in his celebration much to the approval of the visiting contingent.
This seemed to galvanise Rochdale though and they started to come back into the game working some decent crossing situations in wide areas. They went direct from time to time with Steven Davies doing an excellent job leading the line smashing into the centre halves and making it stick. He nearly scored with a spectacular overhead kick but was deemed to have fouled his man on that occasion.
It wasn’t one –way traffic though as Freeman and Duffy tormented Rochdale’s left side throughout the first half with some fantastic pieces of individual skill with both getting to excellent positions at the byline but unable to find Sharp or Hanson in the middle. At one point, they had to move Cannon to the other side as he couldn’t afford to dive in on Duffy again as he would no –doubt receive a 2nd yellow.
Dale got back into the game shortly before half time as a cross was whipped in from deep and flicked home by DAVIES who looked suspiciously offside.
Hanson had an appeal for a penalty turned down as he tried to attack a cross only to be almost undressed by Canavan.
The rest of the half was played out without incident as both teams scrapped for possession on the awful pitch.
The blades began the 2nd half with a change of formation as Carruthers replaced O’Connell as they moved to a 442 with Carruthers and Duffy wide of Fleck and Coutts but they would soon regret it as the home side burst out of the traps and were level almost immediately. Mendez-Laing skinned Lafferty and put a cross over. Moore appeared to flap at a bit. It was retrieved on the opposite side and put back into the area this time to be turned home by LUND for 2-2. Rochdale had the momentum now and were threatening a third.
Wilder saw the error of his ways and returned to 3 at the back bringing Ebanks Landell on for Hanson and pushing Duffy up just off Sharp as United tried to get a foothold in the game.
You could argue it worked as they found themselves ahead again. Basham went on a powerful run down the left and his centre dropped for SHARP who, despite having a quiet game powerfully smashed the ball home despite Davies’ best attempts to clear off the line.
The away following were hopeful that would do it but were soon pegged back again as a cross came over from the left all the way past the entire united Defence to Mendez-Laing who controlled. As Lafferty and Wright both tried to charge the shot down, the Dale winger calmly, took a touch inside taking both out of the equation altogether before slamming past Moore from close range.
It could have got worse for the visitors but for a wonderful save from Simon Moore to keep out a powerful header from Lund.
In the dying moments, Dale were nearly in again despite there appearing to be a clear offside missed by the hapless linesman. Thankfully, Ebanks Landell made an excellent last ditch tackle to deny them.
Lavery replace Duffy as the game petered out with honours even.
Player ratings
Moore- 7.5- Conceded 3. I thought he could have done better with the initial cross for the 2nd but otherwise there was little he could do about the goals. Made a wonder-save to prevent the point from slipping away.
O Connell- 6- Didn’t get on the ball as much as he sometimes does and dale seemed to cause us some problems down his side first half before he was subbed.
Wright- 6- He was steady and his decision making was sound as ever but lost the physical battle with Davies a bit.
Basham- 8- MOM for me. Energetic, tough tackling and went on a couple of mazy runs forward, one of which resulted in our 3rd goal.
Lafferty- 6.5. Got skinned by NML for 2 of their goals but scored an absolute worldy himself.
Freeman- 7.5- One of our better players I thought. He and Duffy caused them a lot of problems down the right in the first half. Perhaps lacked a bit of defensive discipline but that’s what you get with him.
Fleck- 5- The worst game I have seen him have in a blades shirt. Could not do a thing right. Gave the ball away, couldn’t get it under control. I think the pitch was a factor but he just seemed so off the boil.
Coutts- 6.5- Steady. Coped with the pitch better than Fleck did but it wasn’t the sort of game where either could dictate play like they normally do.
Duffy- 7 - Very up and down. Was electric and unplayable at times in the first half but some awful moments of mis-control and poor decision making in the 2nd. Think we saw the best and worst of him Saturday. Took his goal well.
Sharp- 6- Competed with Fleck for our worst performance on the day. Everything seemed to come off him but he salvaged it with a well taken goal.
Hanson- 6.5- Won quite a few headers. His usual limited self with the ball at his feet. The ref gave some awful decisions against him.
Carruthers- 6- Flashes of quality but struggled to really influence the game.
Ebanks- 7.5- Thought he did very well when he came on and gave us a physical edge in a tough game. Made an excellent point saving tackle at the death.
Wilder- 7-.5- I think he made a mistake taking O’Connell off for Carruthers and going 442. But to his credit, he spotted the mistake early and corrected it bringing EEL. Sharp and Fleck were both lucky to avoid the hook but they’ve been so good all season, you daren’t take them off because you know they can produce something that can win you the game and it almost proved so with Sharp scoring the 3rd.
Rochdale- I was quite impressed with them. They have a decent balance between being physical and being able to play a bit. They might also be the fittest side I’ve seen us play this season. The 3 ex blades all gave a good account of themselves. Cannon was a little lucky to stay on following his very poor tackle on Duffy. I would probably say Davies was their MOM as he led the line very well and got himself a goal.
I’ve had a bash at scoring the players but I’m sure there will be loads that disagree. It was a strange sort of game where players would do something exceptionally well at times (Lafferty’s goal, Duffy and Freeman’s fantastic pieces of skill) but then let themselves down (Lafferty getting skinned for 2 goals, Duffy with some awful mis-controls gifting possession etc.). Very few players played well throughout though I felt Basham came the closest to achieving that which is why he got my MoM vote.
As I’ve touched on, the game wasn’t helped by the awful pitch or the awful officials. Some of the missed offside decisions and the decisions against Hanson were infuriating although there were also instances where the ref gave us inexplicable free kicks when there did not appear to have been any offence committed.
