High flying Brentford were today's visitors and despite all the money spent on assembling that side by manager/owner Ron Noades, they were no match for Dale.    

High flying Brentford were today's visitors and despite all the money spent on assembling that side by manager/owner Ron Noades, they were no match for Dale who looked to be the team fighting for promotion and not the Bees.

Dale recorded their biggest win of the season so far, when they triumphed over a poor looking Brentford side 2-0, on a sand covered pitch at Spotland. This was Dale's first ever win over their London rivals in over twenty meetings, though the result never looked in doubt,

Barrow made a couple of enforced changes from the side that went down 2-1 at Torquay last weekend. Andy Barlow still hadn't recovered from his recent injury, so Paul Sparrow was yet again reverted to left back, and Mark Williams came back in to the side on the right. Dave Bayliss returned to the side following a prolonged spell on the sidelines and a trial spell at Doncaster. He was playing in his favoured centre back position as a result of Keith Hill's hamstring injury.

Dale started well in what was quite an even first half. Both teams had plenty of possession, but it was Dale who came closest to scoring when Holt had a deflected shot which looked for all the world to have beaten the keeper. However, he miraculously stuck a foot out to turn it round the post. At the other end, Edwards had a fairly quiet first half with.Brentford attacks not threatening at all.

The second half saw Dale wrap the game up in the first five minutes or so. A high ball into the box found its way to Michael Holt who just managed to get to the ball before the defender did, and fired his shot into the back of the net to put Dale one up.

We have seen several times this season, Dale going onto the back foot following taking a lead. Not today. Within a couple of minutes, we were two up with one of the best goals seen at Spotland this season. Robbie Painter receiver the ball in an almost identical to where Holt had scored from. He controlled the ball allowing it to bounce before volleying the ball home.

At this point Dale were in full control of the match and looked capable of putting a cricket score on the board. They opted to sit back and let Brentford attack them. The two goal lead gave Dale a confidence to work with and they looked very comfortable when defending. There were a couple of moments of panic, where Neil Edwards was made to produce his usual heroics. He performed two top saves diving to his left at full stretch, though these were isolated incidents.

The final whistle saw much celebration amongst the Dale players. They had got the result they fully deserved, and should be proud of their efforts. it was a complete turnaround of their poor showing in Devon seven days earlier.
Brentford did not look anything like a top three side. At times they seemed quite poor. Sure the pitch didn't help them, but it was the same for both sides. This match showed the lack of real quality that exists within the division. A good run could well see Dale launching a late play off bid. They are only six points away at the moment. If they can produce this sort of performance week in week out, then we will without doubt be challenging come the end of the season. Nearly every player played well. Andy Morris has been written off in recent weeks, and if truth be told, he has not looked good enough, but today he produced his best game for the club. Holt and Painter are looking sharp, and with players such as Monington, Lancashire, Stokes and Hill still to return for the club, things at the moment look promising. However as we all know as Dale fans, the only consistent thing about Dale is their inconsistency.

Dale: Edwards, Williams (Jones) , Sparrow, Farrell, Bayliss, Johnson, Carden, Painter, Morris, Bryson (Peake), Holt (Stuart).

Photo: Action Images

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