Dale recorded a much needed victory against Steve Parkin's former team.

Dale recorded a much needed victory against Steve Parkin's former team to get Dale's promotion hopes back on track. New signing Chris Bettney inspired Dale to come back after conceding a second half goal to trail to the Stags. Platt and Ellis got the goals to turn the match round.

Dale recorded a very much needed win against Mansfield with goals from Platt and Ellis to get the season back on track. Furthermore, Dale managed to come from behind for the first time this season to give manager Steve Parkin a victory over his former side.

Parkin had opted for a couple of changes from the side which beat Burton in midweek. There were recalls for Searle and Ellis, whilst Gary Jones retained his spot in midfield in place of Dave Flitcroft who again had to make do with a place on the bench. The first half began with a minutes silence for Remembrance Day, which was impeccably kept by both sets of fans, except for the distant cry of "Golden Gamble" from near the turnstiles.

The first half saw a lot action in the midfield with the usual story of few chances for either side. Dale keeper Neil Edwards didn't have a single save to make in the first half, and it was his opponent Ian Bowling, of Andy Flounders fame, who was much the busier. He had a lot to deal with, but despite Dale's territorial advantage, they again failed to convert this into goals. Dale had a number of corners, but Mansfield dealt well with all of them, despite one or two scary moments. Fortunately for the Stags, the Tony Brown lookalike referee was content to blow his whistle for any contact on the defending side in the box, thus reducing Dale's attacking options.

Jason Peake had a much better half than in recent games, and he pushed forward a lot more. This created one or two chances, which tested Bowling. One chance saw Bowling tip the ball just round the post. Another went just over the bar, and left a huge dent in the back of the Sandy Lane terrace, such was the power of the shot.

It wasn't all one way traffic, as Mansfield did plenty of attacking themselves, without really threatening. However they showed that they were capable of scoring. The nearest they came to scoring was after the referee blew his whistle for offside, but when their attacker tried to put the ball into the back of the net anyway, he missed completely despite being just yards out.
Graeme Atkinson came closest to scoring for Dale when he headed over the bar from just inches out. To be fair to him, he was under a lot of pressure from a defender, but he still should have scored.

Whether this had any influence on the manager's decision is unknown, but Parkin decided to take Atkinson off at half time to give a home debut to Chris Bettney. Bettney looks a very pacey winger with plenty of tricks up his sleeves. He comes with a reputation of being a touch greedy, but we have seen none of that so far. He seems to be an excellent acquisition to the squad.

Despite this, Dale started the second half poorly, and conceded a goal not longer after the restart. Dave Bayliss was dragged out of position to close down the winger who put in a great cross to Man City loanee Chris Greenacre who had a completely free header to give the Stags an undeserved lead. This woke up the travelling support who had great fun in asking the scoreline from Messrs. Parkin and Ford.

This goal shook Dale, and for a while it looked like we would be seeing another home defeat. However, we soon stepped up a gear. Chris Bettney raced down the left chasing a loose ball. Bowling came off his line, and looked to have caught Bettney. To Bettney's credit he stayed on his feet, and attempted to put the ball back into the box, where a scramble ensued before being cleared.

The equaliser came just minutes after with about half an hour to go. Tony Ford raced onto a through ball and attempted to put the ball past Bowling. The ball rebounded off the keeper to Platt who fired the ball into the back of the net for Dale's first league goal at home since 14th August.

We may have had to wait two months for that one, but we only had to wait two minutes for the next one. Chris Bettney had caused yet another problem down the left before putting the ball over to Tony Ellis who put Dale in front. At this point we just had to ask: "Parkin, Parkin What's the score?"

The rest of the game was played out in some comfort, with Mansfield offering little to endanger Dale's lead. We defended well, giving Edwards little to do, and looked to extend our advantage of the Nottinghamshire club. However, the main priority was keeping a goal up and not letting it slip. The relief was visible on the player's faces at the final whistle. That is now two wins on the trot, and five goals in those two games. It is another step in the right direction. Steve Parkin pointed out on the radio afterwards that the most pleasing aspect about the victory was the fact we came from behind to win for the first time this season. Added to that the successful home debut of Chris Bettney who had to limp off with a twisted ankle not long from time, brought about a pleasant Sunday afternoon.

Dale: Edwards, Evans, Searle, Bayliss, Monington, Ford, Peake, Jones, Atkinson (Bettney(Flitcroft)), Platt, Ellis. Subs not used: Priestley, Dowe, Stokes

Photo: Action Images

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