Bury 0 - 0 Rochdale

Bury 0 - 0 Rochdale

Rochdale moved up to second in Sky Bet League 2 after earning a hard fought point in the East Lancashire derby.

Dale played for over half of the game with 10 men after Ian Henderson was harshly sent off just before half time after picking up two bookings.

Josh Lillis was the man-of-the-match after pulling off a string of fine saves although Dale weren’t without chances of their own.

All the build up was about the two managers with Keith Hill coming up against his best mate and former assistant Dave Flitcroft. Dale had the chance to go top whilst Bury needed the points to avoid an end of season relegation scrap.

On a very poor pitch, both sides tried their best to play a passing game which proved difficult at times.

Former Dale striker Clive Platt had an early chance but his effort deflected wide whilst Ian Henderson will feel he should have done better with a header.

Scott Hogan, player of the month for February, went off injured with what looked a serious knee injury after 17 minutes. Hill confirmed the player will go for a scan over the weekend to assess the extent of the injury.

The main talking point of the first half was the dismissal of Henderson. Referee Drysdale showed the Dale hitman two yellow cards in the space of 10 minutes with replays showing neither were worthy of the bookings. The first was for deliberate handball when Henderson tried to gather a raking 40 yard pass on his chest with the ball striking the top part of his arm. His second booking, and subsequent red card, was for a foul on Jake Carroll, again the incident looking nothing more than a free-kick.

With the man advantage, Bury saw plenty of the ball in the second half.

Pablo Mills hit the top of the bar after finding the ball at his feet just eight yards out.

As with the game at Spotland earlier in the season, when Dale were also down to 10 men for large parts, they didn’t just sit back and created chances of their own.

Michael Rose clipped the outside of the post for Dale with a 25 yard free-kick and Peter Cavanagh almost broke the deadlock with a ferocious first time effort after good work from Vincenti.

Lillis was quickly out to smother Tom Soares when the substitute was 12 yards out.

Roared on by over 2,000 supporters from Rochdale, Matt Done forced home keeper Brian Jenson into a fine save with a snap shot from 18 yards as the game became stretched.

As the game entered the closing stages Lillis took centre stage with two vital stops. The first was another where Nardiello was denied by the quick thinking of the keeper who spread himself to block, but the best save of the night was saved for the fifth minute of stoppage time. A right wing corner for the home side drop invitingly for Carroll who placed a powerful header towards goal but Lillis somehow got a hand to the ball to push it over.

A point denied Dale the chance to go top of the table but with the circumstances of the game, it could be looked back upon as a vital point in their push for promotion. The bigger worry is missing two key players in Ian Henderson and Scott Hogan, with the latter looking likely to miss a large chunk of the remaining games. 

Attendance: 6,295 (2,027 - Rochdale)

Rochdale: Lillis, Rafferty, Lancashire, O’Connell, Done, Cavanagh (c), Henderson, Allen (Porter 62), Rose, Vincenti, Hogan (Donnelly 17)
Subs: (not used) Thomson, Bennett, Bunney, Eastham, Gray, Kennedy

Bury: Jensen, Caroll, McNulty, Mills, Veseli, Sedgwick, Mayor (Soares 46), Miller (Grimes 70), Akpa-Akpro (Young 46), Platt, Nardiello
Subs: (not used) Hinds, Forrester, Burke, Charles-Cook

Referee: Mr D Drysdale
Assistant Referees: Mr S Copeland & Mr M Salisbury
Fourth Official: Mr A Haines