Dale remain five points clear

Reporter: Jan Harwood
Date online: 04 January 2010

Rochdale remain five points clear at the top of League Two despite not playing at the weekend.

Dale's home fixture with Rotherham at Spotland on Saturday was called off due to the adverse weather. The postponement gave second place Bournemouth the chance to close the gap but they suffered a surprise defeat at home to Northampton.

Shrewsbury's weekend win over Bradford closed the gap between Dale and the play-off positions to 13 points, although the Shrews have now played a game more than Keith Hill's men.

With the big freeze set to last until the weekend more League Two fixtures will be in doubt this Saturday, and while Dale's trip to Aldershot should go ahead, the big promotion clash of the day between Rotherham and Bournemouth is likely to be postponed.

If the Don Valley Stadium pitch does not thaw out in time, Dale would go eight points clear with victory in Hampshire and that deficit would be tough to overcome for the chasing pack, even if they do have games in hand.