Goals elude Dale
ROCHDALE rued Joe Rafferty’s penalty miss as they played out an edgy goalless draw with local and relegation rivals Oldham Athletic.
Only a point separated the two sides before kickoff, Rafferty’s saved spotkick ensuring that is how it would remain with Dale still occupying the last relegation spot.
The atmosphere at the Crown Oil Arena - whitehot in the first half dissipated as the game went on, the teams eventually settling for a positive but not transformative point.
Home form has traditionally kept Keith Hill’s men afloat in League One, but now it is threatening to desert them with seven draws in their last 11 Spotland outings.
The scrappy early stages lacked pattern, Oldham’s counter-attacking attempts lacking precision as Callum Camps and Harrison McGahey made vital recovering tackles.
Bradden Inman’s solo run resulted in the first chance on 15 minutes, the winger teeing up Camps whose volley whistled over the bar.
Calvin Andrew nearly opened the scoring five minutes later, Placide parrying his header off the line after Matt Done broke to the byline and Joe Thompson miscued a shot.
Oldham earned backto-back corners on a couple of occasions in the first half but despite an attacking selection from Richie Wellens failed to trouble Josh Lillis at any stage.
Instead, they faced adversity as Thompson beat Anthony Gerrard to a loose ball in the box, nicking it away from the defender and brought down by leg.
It was a clear penalty, but one visiting supporter stormed the pitch aiming for referee Peter Bankes who he would have reached to strike were it not for him slipping.
The only significance of the brainless action was to cause a delay of several minutes, that would have preyed on Rafferty’s mind.
Rafferty, a reliable penalty taker for Dale in previous penalty shootouts, saw his penalty parried to safety by Placide down to his left.
The home side remained in the ascendancy until half-time, Oldham failing to deal with a corner and needing Placide to paw behind Ollie Rathbone’s hooked effort.
After the break, the tide of poorly-judged corners and crosses continued as Inman’s ball across the face of goal missed everything.
Jim McNulty did get his head to a corner at the back post, but was unable to generate enough power to test Placide who was once again down low to make the save.
The game’s second flashpoint came on 70 minutes, Andrew seeming to beat Placide to a high cross and head home only for goal to be chalked off for a foul on the keeper.
Stephen Humphrys, whose introduction was popular with the home crowd, found service hard to come by and his only contribution was to fire a shot into the side netting.
Neither side threatened in the final 15 minutes, Oldham’s woeful forward play encapsulated first by Dan Gardner’s miscued long ranger and Ousmane Fane’s wild attempt late on.
There’s a real atmosphere of positivity around the club, with Hill’s side in with a shout of survival having been 12 points adrift at one stage and their fate seemingly his outstretched sealed. But it was hard not to sag under the weight of Ian Henderson’s suspension, the skipper’s sharp movement and nose for goal exactly what a dour Manchester derby needed.