Burton Albion 1 - 0 Rochdale

Rochdale went down 1-0 after a lacklustre performance that failed see a single shot on target. Joe Rafferty had a thirty seconds to forget when he gave away a free-kick, got booked and from the resultant set piece, turned the ball into his own net. Matt Lund's goal-bound volley was the closest Dale got to trouble the Burton goal but defender Shane Cansdell-Sherriff get a head to his shot to divert away.

Burton Albion are somewhat of a bogey team for Rochdale sides with Dale having never beaten them in the league and having never picked up a single point at The Pirelli Stadium.

The home side were certainly out of the traps the quicker and troubled Dale from the start. Mark Duffy and Lucas Akins had sights of goal but couldn’t hit the target whilst Dale struggled to keep possession on a very sticky pitch.

The only goal came on 24 minutes when Rafferty pulled back Duffy on the wing, referee Boyeson brandishing the yellow card. From the freekick, Duffy delivery caused real problems with Rafferty getting the final touch to loop the ball over Lillis.

With the travelling Dale fans looking for a positive reaction, it was Burton who went closest with Lillis having to be at his best. Tom Kennedy was done for pace by Akins with the former Dale trialist forcing Lillis into a save with his legs, the follow up shot by Beavon lacking pace and was easily cleared.

Dale saw more of the ball in the second half but they still couldn’t trouble Matthews in the Burton goal.

Henderson saw his shot well blocked by Mousinho was the closest Dale came.

Burton were certainly happy to see out the game 1-0, which led to a scrappy end.

Attendance: 2,787

Rochdale: Lillis, Lancashire, McNulty, Kennedy, Rafferty, Lund (Mendez-Laing 62), Allen (c) (Noble-Lazarus 62), Vincenti, McDermott (Alessandra68), Henderson, Andrew
Subs: (not used) Collis, Eastham, Rose, Camps

Burton: McLaughlin (Matthews 23), Edwards, Cansdell-Sherriff, Mousinho (c), McCrory, Weir, Butcher, Binnon-Williams (Naylor 61), Akins, Duffy (O’Connor 89), Beavon
Subs: (not used) El Khayati, Joachim, Thiele, Palmer

Referee: Mr C Boyeson
Assistant Referees: Mr A Newbold & Mr M Howes
Fourth Official: Mr M Jones