Absolutely breathtaking stuff as Dale got their first win at Milmoor in my life time and beyond, as the Steve Parkin promotion bandwagon got back to full speed with a last minuite win at Rotherham. The game had it all and it could have been over long before the final whistle if the Rotherham forward line hadn't been so inept in front of goal, and Neil Edwards hadn't been so magnificent when called upon.

The Dale fans were put in the same end that we always have been, but Rotherham have upgraded the end by putting seats on the existing terrace and knocking down the toilet, reminiscent of the one from Trainspotting. A disappointing number of Dale fans had made the short journey into South Yorkshire with only about 400-500 having travelled. They may have been small in number, but once again they made themselves heard, and the last few minutes you would have thought we'd have been at home.

The game started with Dale well on top, and everything was looking red rosy. The passing football was in full effect, and everything looked back to normal after a couple of slip ups at home. Dale were easily the dominant side and should really have taken advantage of this early attacking spell.

Rotherham soon got to grips with the game and started playing as their 100% home record suggested they could, but for all their possession they rarely looked threatening. They did get the ball in the back of the net, but the referee, the infamous Mr. K. Lynch, rightly blew for a push in the box. There were little complaints from the home team. The home side's Berry felt that the best way to get into the box was to win his side a penalty, and he pulled off a ridiculous dive in the box. The ref immediately signalled that there would be no penalty but chose to totally ignore the rule about booking divers. Mr.Lynch has never been the Dale fans favourite (or any teams fans' favourite for that matter), and decisions like that will do nothing to improve things.

Dale came close to scoring a couple of times both courtesy of Jason Peake free kicks. The first was a well stuck shot which went towards the top left corner with power before being tipped over by the home keeper Pollitt. The second saw a similar shot aimed towards the top right with another tip over by Pollitt.

The second half saw the home side step up a gear, which stirred the dormant home side's supporters up from their first half sleep. They had several chances but were woeful in front of goal. They had 2 or 3 chances where they were clear of the Dale defence with just Neil Edwards to beat, but failed to finish it off. Indeed, one effort saw Edwards stranded and they fired well wide with an open goal. Doh!

New signing Julian Dowe came on for Michael Holt and looked very promising indeed. He looked quick and to have a nice touch. It seems we have some real competition for places up front. He helped create that bit of panic in the Rotherham defence.

The turning point in the match came when Mark Monington was sent off at Milmoor for the second successive season. He was rightly sent off as he blocked one of the home forwards just inside his own half. He was the last man, and the Dale defence had been caught square. Personally, I thought Monington's challenge prevented a goal despite being so far out. However with the Rotherham forward line in their current form, we would probably have won a throw in with their shooting rather than concede a goal.

Having just brought on another forward, Parkin was reluctant to reorganise and go one up front as we did in the other two games when we have had a player sent off. It was to pay off. As the minutes dragged away, Rotherham looked increasingly desperate with their attacking, and it seemed a point was on the cards for Dale, as we were coping easily by this stage with the high balls offered by United. Furthermore, we had a few attacks of our own as we broke fast.

One controversial incident occurred following one of these breaks. One of the Rotherham players went down injured and when the Dale took control of the ball, the ref blew his whistle to allow treatment. At the resultant drop ball, no Rotherham player went in for it. They obviously assumed that because it was their injured player, we would simply kick the ball back to them, but Flitcroft took control and launched another Dale attack. Now this was no unsporting behaviour, as we had possession when the ref stopped play, and at the drop ball, he actually called Rotherham players to take part in it, but no one did, so Flitcroft just took the ball away. They only had themselves to blame.

As 4:50pm approached, the 4th official held up a board saying there would be 4 minutes of injury time to be played. Where this came from I have no idea, but we were all very grateful three minutes later. Dave Flitcroft picked the ball up in his own half, and ran into the Millers half with it. A run by Julian Dowe took out one of the defenders who followed his run, and Flitcroft played a sublime ball to Graeme Atkinson who had launched a run down the left wing cutting into the box. With Dale players available at the far post, he chose to shoot himself and fired the ball past the despairing keeper into the back of the net to send the Dale contingent into absolute pandomonium. The scenes were unbelievable, and you would have thought we had won promotion there and then. Dale fans went bananas.

The final seconds were played out. The Rotherham players were distraught and seemed incapable of offering anything after this sucker punch. The final whistle brought more scenes of joy as the Dale fans rushed to the front to congratulate their heroes. Four away wins out of four now. Certainly one for the Stattos! But what a joy to see the home fans pouring out in their hundreds to the tune of "We only need ten men!". This game finished off Rotherham's 100% record of 3 wins out of 3 and no goals conceded. But you know, that promotion talk is getting louder.

Dale: Edwards, Evans, Stokes, Hill, Monington, Ford (Carden) (Searle), Flitcroft, Peake, Atkinson, Platt, Holt (Dowe)

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