Dale are denied a deserved win

ROCHDALE came desperately close to securing a welcome and richly deserved three-point return at Stadium:MK – only to be denied by a stoppage time equaliser.

It was the second time the visitors had been pegged back in a contest thoroughly bossed by Dale, Robbie Neilson, the Dons manager, acknowledging after the game that it was a ‘point we probably didn’t deserve.’

The result left Dale eight points behind the play-off pack, with a game in hand on sixth-placed Millwall but with no sign of their dreadful run of luck changing when it comes to injuries.

Steven Davies scored for the second game running – but a calf muscle forced him off and he looked a doubt for Tuesday’s trip to Scunthorpe.

With Keith Keane ruled out with a calf injury, Joe Bunney still on the road to recovery, Matt Lund and Donal McDermott suspended, Reuben NobleLazarus injured during the week and Calvin Andrew and Joe Thompson playing through illness, it was yet another threadbare squad for Hill to select from.

Hill made two changes from the 3-3 draw with Sheffield United. Joe Rafferty came back from suspension and Andrew came into the side despite not having trained due to tonsillitis. They replaced Lund and Keane.

With Davies leading the frontline superbly again, Dale had the better of the first half exchanges and took the lead 16 minutes in. Andrew, starting at leftback, advanced down the left flank and clipped a cross into the Dons area which Davies met and headed against the post. The striker benefitted from a kind bounce of the ball, nodding the rebound over the line from close range.

That man Davies was close to a second when he headed an Ian Henderson centre narrowly wide. It was his last contribution of note, succumbing to a calf injury shortly after that attempt to be replaced by Thompson up front.

Perhaps it Thompson had yet to find his stride when a gilt-edged opportunity presented itself within minutes of coming on, the substitute somehow firing over the crossbar from point blank range when Harrison McGahey delivered an inviting pass across the face of goal.

Dons goalkeeper David Martin kept out a Nathaniel Mendez-Laing effort before the break while Harvey Barnes had the best chance of the half for the home side but fired wide of Ben Wilson’s left post.

Henderson saw a curling effort saved by Martin before MK Dons’ levelled with their first real chance of the second half in the 70th minute. Dale goalkeeper Ben Wilson’s attempt to punch clear Ben Tilney’s cross from the left failed as substitute Kieran Agard beat him to the ball, forcing it over the line from six yards.

There was not sign of disappointment from Dale as they pushed again to exert control and six minutes from time they were rewarded with a second goal. Callum Camps, who had replaced Andy Cannon earlier in the half, picked out the run of Mendez-Laing and he raced clear of the Dons defence, drew Martin from his line and fired an angled finish into the corner of the net.

The 2-1 scoreline would have been a reasonable reflection of the game – but Dale’s luck is out at the minute and that was underlined two minutes into time added on when Alan Reeves cross was diverted into the net by Jamie Allen.

Martin; Williams, Downing, Walsh, Tilney; Barnes, O’Keefe, Upson, Reeves; Maynard (Ngombo, 60), Muirhead (Agard, 60). Subs unused: Nicholls, Brittain, Powell, Bowditch.

Wilson, Rafferty, McGahey, McNulty, Andrew, Cannon (Camps, 64), Allen, Rathbone (Canavan, 75), Henderson, Davies (Thompson, 25), Mendez-Laing. Subs unused: Vincenti, Logan, Morley, Kitching