Rochdale 2 - 1 Wigan Athletic

Rochdale 2 - 1 Wigan Athletic

Rochdale’s pre-season preparations continued with victory against Championship side Wigan Athletic in Dale's first outing at Spotland since promotion to League One.

A warm weather training camp in Tenerife was followed by two games against AFC Fylde and FC Halifax but this was the first game at Spotland.

Ian Henderson and Bastien Hery fired Dale into a 2-0 lead before James Tavernier scored a superb goal to half the deficit.

It was a mixed side that the Dale boss, Keith Hill, named with an experimental formation. The defence was a back three of Rafferty, Lancashire and Tanser with Done and Bennett playing in wingback roles. A central midfield of Lund and Hery with Henderson and Allen out wide; Donnelly played the lone striker role.

Dale were very bright from the start and took the lead on five minutes. Henderson capitalised after referee Andy Haines allowed advantage after Scott Tanser was fouled. Henderson, from a very narrow angle, sent a sublime chip over Lee Nicholls in the Wigan goal.

Wigan responded well to going behind but couldn’t get past Josh Lillis. Firstly, youngster Tim Chow was denied by the Dale stopper and then former Spotland favourite Grant Holt thought he had levelled with a firm header but again Lillis had other ideas.

Ryan Jennings should have levelled when played in but he was off target.

Bastien Hery doubled the Dale lead on 36 minutes after he caught Thomas Rogne in possession on the edge of the area. The Frenchman exchanged passes with Donnelly before firing a low shot beyond the dive of Nicholls.

Slack play from Dale allowed Wigan to score on the stroke of half time. Hery and Done could have done better to close down Tavernier but the defenders shot crashed in off the underside of the crossbar giving Lillis no chance.

Wigan saw far more of the ball in the second half but couldn’t breach the home defence.

Soon after the break both sides started had multiple changes and two of Dale’s subs went close; Callum Camps forced a fine save from second half substitute Scott Carson whilst minutes later Joe Bunney was denied by a smart low save.

The Dale boss seemed happy with the workout but stressed that results at this stage are not the most important factor.

Next up for Rochdale are Bolton Wanderers at Spotland on Tuesday evening; 7:45pm kick off.

Attendance: 1,475 (452 away)

Rochdale: Lillis, Rafferty, Bennett, Lancashire (c), Tanser, Henderson (Cannon 71), Lund (Camps 71), Hery (Park 63), Allen, Done, Donnelly (Bunney 71).
Subs: (not used)McGinty, Eastham, Vincenti, Barry-Murphy, Diba, Collis, Rose, Logan,

Wigan: Nicholls (Carson 46), Taverner (Poole 71), Ramis (c)(Caldwell 59), Rogne, Holt, Fyvie, Taylor-Sinclair, Barnett, A Trialist (Carlos-Garcia 63), Chow (Wilson 76), Jennings (Hamilton 86).
Subs: (not used), Burke, Flores, Wilson

Referee: Mr A Haines
Assistant Referees: Mr D Markham & Mr P Davison
Fourth Official: Mr S Birkitt