Morecambe 0 - 1 Rochdale

Rochdale AFC

Rochdale ended their pre-season schedule with a narrow victory over League Two side Morecambe at The Globe Arena. Steven Davies’ clinical finish eight minutes into the second half was enough to earn the win as Keith Hill continues to prepare Dale for next Saturday’s season opener at Portsmouth.

During all the pre-season fixtures, the Dale boss has mixed his side up to give game time to all of his squad and this final warm up was no exception with a different formation adopted. New signing Kgosi Ntlhe was utilised as a wing back with Andy Cannon on the right side and Keith Keane, Niall Canavan and Jim McNulty were used as a central three in defence. Callum Camps and Jamie Allen held the midfield whilst Mark Kitching and Ollie Rathbone pushed on down the flanks; Steven Davies spearheading the attack.

Rochdale started brightly as they pushed Morecambe in the early stages.

Mark Kitching warmed the hands of Danijel Nizic in the Morecambe goal with Steven Davies unable to turn in the loose ball from close range.

Nizic had to be at his best moments later to push away a powerful Niall Canavan header from a corner.

Morecambe began to steady the flow of Dale attacks and almost opened the scoring in the 12th minute. Former Dale man Michael Rose stole the ball inside the area, but his pull back was smothered away by Jim McNulty with Vadaine Oliver set to pounce.

These type of games are often tepid affairs but this one saw one or two feisty challenges; Ntlhe was on the receiving end of an aerial challenge that saw the full back land awkwardly as Keith Hill looked on worryingly. Thankfully he was soon back on his feet.

Just one change for Dale at the interval saw Calvin Andrew replace Kitching as Hill changed his formation slightly.

The introduction of Andrew almost paid off instantly as a neat dummy on the right wing straight from the re-start gave him time to cross. Davies’ unorthodox back-heal was gathered by Nizic.

The only goal came early in the second half after great work from Rathbone inside the box. The winger’s pace saw him beat two men before crossing for Davies who slammed a volley past Nizic from eight yards out.

As the changes came from both managers, the flow of the game switched as Morecambe began to get a head of steam. Jamie Allen and Callum Camps were among the players to be substituted and without their experience Morecambe began to pick holes in the Dale back line.

In some cases it was Dale’s own players that assisted the opposition, such as when McNulty’s back pass went straight to Oliver, which saw Josh Lillis quickly out to block the danger.

Moments later, Morecambe went even closer when Rhys Turner strode down the left and forced a low block from Lillis; the ball spinning across goal with Ntlhe blocking on the line as Wildig thought he had equalised.

Garry Thompson beat the offside trap as the game came towards its conclusion, his effort beating Lillis but crashing back off the inside of the post.

A winning mentality is what Rochdale manager Keith Hill wanted to take into the opening day fixture in seven days time and as he puts the finishing touches to preparations this week, it is all about Portsmouth at Fratton Park next Saturday.