Scunthorpe United 2 - 1 Rochdale

Rochdale went down to their first defeat in four at Scunthorpe United. In a poor first half of little chances, Dale came closest when Thomas Cywka forced a save from Sam Slocombe and the on loan striker should have done better when through on goal. Dale’s Matt Lund was stretchered off early in the game with a dislocated shoulder.

With Conrad Logan returning to Leicester injured, Olly Lancashire injured and Peter Vincenti missing through illness, Josh Lillis Rhys Bennett and Thomas Cywka were given starts.

With just four minutes on the clock, Dale’s Matt Lund went over whilst defending a corner with some concern coming from players close by. Lund was swiftly stretchered off and whisked away to hospital with manager Keith Hill confirming he had dislocated his shoulder and could miss a large chunk of the season.

Cywka was a real livewire in the opening half and warmed the hands of Slocombe with a low shot. Slocombe wasn’t tested with Cywka’s next foray forward with the striker firing over from 18 yards out.

Dale had a glorious chance to open the scoring eight minutes into the second half but missed the opportunity. Done and Dawson pressured Williams into giving up possession with Done picking up the loose ball before rounding Slocombe. The stopper did enough to halt Done and when the ball was played into Dawson’s feet, the Scunthorpe defence stood strong and cleared.

The opener came just before the hour mark with poor defending contributing. Brindley was allowed to run down the right before pulling the ball back for an unmarked O’Neil to slot home from 20 yards.

Dale rallied and were soon back on terms through Matt Done’s 14th of the season after a great cross from Dawson on the right.

With the game finely balanced, it was Scunthorpe that re-took the lead with 13 minutes left to play. O’Neil made space on the left to cross with Paddy Madden able to easily turn Eastham inside the 6 yard box and fire beyond Lillis.

It was a disappointing start to the festive fixture list for Hill who was celebrating signing a new long term deal at the club that will see him stay at Spotland until the Summer of 2018.

The games come thick and fast at this time of year with Dale hosting Fleetwood on Sunday afternoon (3pm kick off).

Scunthorpe: Slocombe, Brindley, Boyce, Williams, O'Neil (McAllister - 80), Osbourne, Madden, Bishop, McSheffrey, Taylor (Adelakun - 87)
Substitutes: McAllister, Canavan, Hawkridge, Adelakun, Olejnik, Wootton, Davey

Rochdale: Lillis, Rafferty, O'Connell, Eastham, Rose, Bennett (Noble-Lazarus - 86), Dawson, Lund (Cannon - 9), Henderson, Done, Cywka (Andrew - 70)
Substitutes: Andrew, Noble-Lazarus, Hery, Musangu, Allen, Cannon, Camps

Referee: Mr T Harrington
Assistant Referees: Mr D Markham & Mr O Yates
Fourth Official: Mr A Greenwood

Attendance: 4,004