Important point pleases Dale boss Hill

Ten-man Rochdale returned from Roots Hall with a hard-earned and, according to boss Keith Hill, ‘important’ point.

Brendan Moore was the hero of the hour, saving Simon Cox’s penalty in first-half stoppage time.

Villain of the piece, so far as Dale were concerned, was referee Tim Robinson, who redefined the concept of the ‘homer.’

His dismissal of Ian Henderson in the 50th minute of the match was the culmination of a series of decisions which very much favoured the home side and their ‘celebrity’ manager Phil Brown.

Dale chief Hill highlighted a first half inceident in which Brown and Robinson shared a friendly ‘cuddle’ on the touchline as being a real turning point in the referee’s performance.

So bearing all that in mind, plus the ongoing injury and illness situations and the fact that Jamie Allen – who had been pencilled in to start on Saturday – had been sold on Thursday’s transfer deadline day, little wonder Hill was content to come away with a share of the spoils.

“I’m happy because what I saw reflects me and our team, and looking into the future 41 games, I believe that we can step in,” he said.

“That was more like us, it was more like me and it was more like I expect from the team.

“There are still mistakes within what we’re trying to do and within the first 20 minutes of the game we should have been 1-0 up and pretty comfortable, but again, the game has been turned on its head from one or two incidents, and we have fought for a very, very important point.”

Niall Canavan, Mark Kitching and transfer deadline day loan signing from Liverpool Jordan Williams came into the side as Hill made three changes.

The visitors started brightly with Canavan meeting a corner at the near post only to send his header against Henderson.

Jordan Williams – the other one, from Barrow! – was denied by Southend goalkeeper Mark Oxley when he sent a powerful effort on target, the Shrimpers stopper pushing his shot over.

Two minutes into first half stoppage time the home side were awarded a spot kick, Joe Rafferty penalised for holding Ryan Leonard.

Simon Cox struck the penalty well enough, but Moore flew down to his right, snaffling up the ball at the second attempt to ensure Dale went in at the interval on equal terms.

There was a blow for Dale five minutes into the second period when referee Robinson showed a straight red card to Henderson for a hefty challenge on Stephen Hendrie. Thereafter, the home side pressed Dale back for long periods.

Jermaine McGlashan fired over for the hosts, and substitute Nile Ranger saw a shot from the edge of the six yard box blocked.

Southend saw plenty of the ball but struggled to carve out a gilt-edged opportunity. And they were almost caught out by a sucker punch when Canavan met a corner kick eight yards from goal but sent his header over the crossbar to the relief of the home supporters.

Loan signing Donervon Daniels came on for the last ten minutes to help Dale see out the game.

The hosts applied pressure late on, but Dale were comfortable in dealing with it. Hill was delighted with Moore’s heroics after a difficult debut at Shrewsbury.

“Brendan has got bravery in abundance. It’s amazing how he played the game,” said the Dale chief. “I threw him in at the deep end against Shrewsbury which was a car crash, and then he played against Stoke, so you just hope that these players learn. They have to learn quickly or I’m out of a job, and Brendan’s learning - I love it!”

Oxley, Bwomono, Timlin, Kyprianou, Leonard, Hendrie (Yearwood, 55), McGlashan, Kightly, McLaughlin (Robinson, 70), Cox, Fortune (Ranger, 53). Subs not used: Matsuzaka, Bridge, Smith, Coutts

Moore, Rafferty, McNulty, Canavan, McGahey, Jordon Williams, Cannon (Davies, 84), Kitching, Jordan Williams (Inman, 95), Henderson, Done (Daniels, 84). Subs not used: Barry-Murphy, Collis, Brown, Gillam T Robinson

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‘That was more like us, more like me and more like I expect from the team’