Dreams of a first trip to Wembley in the club's history are fading fast after tonight's disappointing performance. Dale were blitzed in the first twenty minutes of the game when it looked like Stoke might run up a cricket score.

This was a result totally against the run of play. Dale were by far the better team for at least the first ninety seconds.

Actually, Dale got hit by a first half storm by the visitors and just could not cope with the passing, pace and shooting of Stoke. For the first twenty minutes or so, Stoke were awesome and looked to be able to score on every attack. There looked to be a lot more than just one division between the two, and if this is what Division 2 will be like, then perhaps we are a long, long way from promotion. Dale managed to rally late in the second half as Stoke took the foot of the pedal, grabbing a late goal, and were unlucky not to have grabbed a second.

With development on the Willbutts(!) meaning that there were only 3 sides of the ground open, it was good to see the rest of the ground full. Dale's biggest home crowd of the season turned up to witness the game, with over 4200 getting tickets. Stoke managed to sell all 1300 of their tickets and rumours of Stokies in the home end proved to be groundless.

Steve Parkin opted to go for a much changed line up. With Sean McAuley cup-tied, right back Wayne Evans was switched to the left. Tony Ford was changed to right back against his former club, and there were returns to the first team for Bettney, Edwards, Monington and Peake. There was also a spot on the bench for out of favour Michael Holt.

With Stoke attacking the Sandy Lane in the first half, Dale looked more than a match for the visitors. Platt and Ellis had plenty of touches in the opening seconds, and the visitors skied the ball well over the bar at the other end. Suddenly, with only three or four minutes on the clock, Stoke got into the Dale half. The ball was switched to Mikael Hansson (no relation to American pre-pubescent pop trio Hanson) who fired the ball with the outside of his foot past the diving Neil Edwards from the edge of the box into the back of the net. It was a great finish, with few people expecting a shot.

Despite this early blow, heads did not drop but Stoke continued to show their superiority. Dale failed to break down their defence with any conviction. At times it looked men against boys. Stoke looked an excellent side, and a far cry from the poor outfit Dale beat at the Britannia Stadium last season. They were first to the ball, very quick with everything coming off for them. Their off the ball movement was way above anything we have seen in this division this season.

After twenty minutes, disaster struck and Dale went two nil down. One of the Stoke players launched a long range shot which bounced just in front of Neil Edwards and hit his chest. Stoke striker Peter Thorne raced in from the edge of the box, getting to the rebound before Edwards had a chance to get up to tap what eventually became a simple chance. Edwards knew he was at fault and his face said it all.
Minutes later the win was secured. Again it all started from a move down the right wing before the ball was whipped in to Thorne who headed the ball home at the neat post. It was an excellent finish by the former Swindon striker.

At this point, many Dale fans were worrying what the scoreline would end up being. Stoke had shown an ability to tear the Dale defence apart and looked capable of scoring at will. Stoke were well on top of their game, and Dale could not cope against them. This was not a poor Dale performance by any means; there was just a big difference in class.

The second half began in much of the same way as the first ended. Stoke were well on top. They seemed quite settled with the scoreline, and soon took the foot off the pedal. This was reflected in the away section where Stoke fans tried doing a Mexican wave. Strange site indeed.

However, Dale had not given up by any means, and in the last twenty minutes or so, Dale caused Stoke a lot of problems. Dale had a goal disallowed when Tony Ellis's effort was judged to have been offside when he received the ball at the edge of the box. Soon after, Keith Hill rattled the post with a header from a corner. Stoke had sat back, and Dale had taken full advantage. Out of favour Michael Holt was brought on in front of Clive Platt, and looked dangerous. He was very lively on the ball and provided that bit of pace up front that Dale had been lacking.

Furthermore, Holt was rewarded for his efforts with a goal that gives Dale the smallest glimmer of hope of the second leg. He was putting himself about in the box causing problems, before hooking the ball into the back of the net with City keeper Ward in close attention.

Dale continued to press for the last few minutes, but didn't really look like adding to their comeback.

As mentioned before, it was not a case of Dale playing badly. Stoke were a very good side indeed. You look at their side, and see players of the caliber of Gunnlaugsson and Kippe who are both premiership players. Gunnlaugson left Bolton last season after being considered to good for Division 1, and here he is up against a Div 3 side. You could not fault the effort of the Dale players one bit. There was a lot to be confident about. Michael Holt looked very lively up front and showed potential of forming a partnership with Tony Ellis, with doubts surrounding Graham Lancashire's fitness and position at the club. The tie is all but over, despite Dale's unbeaten record at the Britannia Stadium. It would take some sort of minor miracle for Dale to win 3-0 at Stoke.

Photo: Action Images

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