Rochdale on the
Wednesday’s fifth round replay will be Dale’s third trip to the capital in this year’s competition – and fair to say the most glamorous by some distance! recalls the club’s FA Cup journey so far...
ROCHDALE were dominant winners in their first round match after putting in an impressive performance against National League side Bromley at the Crown Oil Arena.
Dale got off to the perfect start in the match when Matt Inman got the opener on 10 minutes, before Ian Henderson doubled his side’s lead from the penalty spot shortly after the half hour mark.
Inman got his second goal of the game shortly after half-time, and Bromley’s day went from bad to worse when they had Brett Williams sent off with 15 minutes to go.
Henderson then wrapped up the win late on when he grabbed his second goal of the game, with Rochdale picking up the comfortable 4-0 win.
Keith Hill said after the game: “It was a very professional performance. I think we could have been two goals up before we scored. “The scoreline at half-time should probably have been more but the performance was very professional because of the respect we gave the opposition.
“Fair credit to Bromley – they didn’t make it easy. I think we made it look easier than it was because we were willing to match the opponents with all the ingredients that you need – courage, running, commitment and being forgiving, and we were good with and without the ball. Once we won that battle, we deserved to score the goals.” but that’s just the icing on the cake after a very professional week – we prepared really well for the opponents.”
THE third round saw Rochdale face their first Football League opposition but it didn’t faze them as they defeated League One rivals Doncaster Rovers 1-0 at the Keepmoat Stadium.
Calvin Andrew had scored an early goal in the previous round against Slough, and he repeated the heroics in this match when he scored after just 18 minutes.
It saw Dale earn revenge in the match, as just one week earlier they had suffered a 2-0 defeat at Doncaster when the teams had met in the league fixture.
Keith Hill said after the game: “I got that bounce from the values of having to win a game. It was a hard game, but there was a fighting quality, so I was really pleased with the competitive energy, and obviously the intelligence.
“When you’re being competitive you’ve got to show intelligence, and I thought we did that.
“We’ve been guilty of committing too many silly free-kicks rather than courageous free-kicks, but there was courage and intelligence to the way that we played, rather than supporting the opponents’ tactics.
“We also did one thing that we haven’t done a regular basis, which is defend as a team when the opposition are strong. We stood strong when they were going direct, which they had to do because they were losing the game.”
ROCHDALE were drawn away to Championship side Millwall in the fourth round and it looked like they would earn the win at The Den, but Millwall scored a stoppage time equaliser as the game finished 2-2.
Millwall made a perfect start in the game when a foul by Rochdale defender Donervon Daniels earned the hosts a penalty, with Jed Wallace stepping up and converting the spotkick to make it 1-0 after 17 minutes.
It was the first goal that Rochdale had conceded in the competition so far, but that negative was quickly put behind them when Ian Henderson equalised shortly after the half hour mark.
It stayed 1-1 until the 53rd minute when Matt Done scored for Rochdale, and it looked like they would pick up their fourth straight win in the FA Cup.
Millwall had other ideas with Ben Thompson netting in the 90th minute to prevent Rochdale from causing the upset away from home and ensuring the match would go to a replay.
Keith Hill said after the