Dale were outstanding as they hammered struggling Shrewsbury Town by four goals to two, improving their own hopes of promotion to divison two, whilst sending Shrewsbury to the bottom of the league

What an afternoon. Dale absolutely cruised this game and continued their play off assault, sending the Shrews crashing to bottom of the league in the process. In all fairness, the win was thoroughly deserved and could have been many more. Dale were well in control from the very first minute, and the winning margin flattered the home side, who were rarely in the contest. Dale outpassed and outclassed Shrewsbury who could only offer the long ball hit and hope tactics we have come to associate with Kevin Ratcliffe's teams. Thank God, he didn't get the Dale job in the Summer.

The whole of the Dale team played well and looked to be a class above their sorry opponents. Apart from a brief spell in the first half, Dale were always on top, and always looked likely to score goals. Shrewsbury on the other hand looked to be devoid of ideas and all they could do was hoof the ball forward in hope rather than in expectation. They didn't even really deserve the two goals that they got.

There was the biggish crowd for this encounter with over 4000 turning up to cheer on their home side in their bid for league survival. The local paper had also done their bit for Town and for Care in the Community by a series of posters featuring what must be the ugliest bloke in the area to urge on the local townsfolk to support their local team. And to be fair the town responded with a crowd which was well above their average Saturday afternoon number. Perhaps the Observer should consider something similar, but with a better looking specimen of the local youth. A healthy number of Dale fans were in attendance, with around 500 making the pleasant journey down the A49, but you would have thought that the Dale fans were in the majority as they outsang the home fans from start to finish. Shrewsbury is another ground with an understanding pricing policy with many Dale fans coming straight from the excellent alehouses in town straight to the junior turnstiles.

Reports of an injury crisis amongst the Dale ranks proved to be untrue, with returns to first team action for Mark Monington, and Tony Ellis on the bench. Keith Hill, Jason Peake and Clive Platt had shook off knocks suffered within the week to keep their place in the starting line up.

Dale started putting the home side under pressure straight from the starting moment in the match with a delayed kick off due to the Hillsboro tribute. They had a couple of chances early on but took the lead after just seven minutes. Despite the fact that it was so early in the game it was a well deserved lead for Dale. Dale were quick to enforce their passing game onto the match, and seemed able to pass the ball for fun. Graeme Atkinson received the ball and put across a super cross enabling back in form Clive Platt the simple task of heading past the Shrews keeper Paul Edwards. This was Clive's 10th goal of the season and he is hitting form at just the right time.

The Shrews failed to hit back at all and the nearest they came to getting Neil Edwards gloves dirty was when they fired so wide it looked like it would go for a throw in. Despite recent upturns in fortune, they looked the side their league position suggested they were. They were very poor or were made to look that way by a very fine Dale performance. When they did manage to get into the box, their front two of Steele and Sturridge did well with backs to goal, but found themselves up against it as Dale crowded out all options.

Soon Dale doubled their lead thanks to Jason Peake. Fired up again by another moaning letter in the local press, Peake answered his small number of critics in just the right way. Peakey received the ball inside the box in acres of space and he coolly slotted the ball past the hapless Edwards in the Shrewsbury goal.

For a while it looked a matter of how many Dale were run up, such was their superiority. The three points never looked in doubt, and Dale were well in control. The home fans were silenced (not that you could hear them in the first place), and Dale were passing the ball for fun. All of a sudden, it started to go a bit pear shaped. The Shrews were awarded a corner and Neil Edwards was under intense physical pressure as he rose to grab the ball. He managed to grasp the cross, but the ball fell out of his hands as he fell to the floor, and despite the best efforts of a defender to clear the ball, the goal was given, despite Dale claims of a foul on Edwards. The goal was credited to substitute and former Dale wingman Micky Brown, but it really seemed to be an own goal from Edwards.

This sparked the home side into action and for the only time in the entire match, they enjoyed the majority of the possession. They had their first shot on target when Lee Steele fired straight at Edwards. There were some worried faces in the away terrace with many fearing another Southend style collapse. The goal had certainly given the home team confidence but suffered from some stout defending from Monington, Hill and Evans who always seemed to make the crucial block.

All half time worries went out the window after just a couple of second half minutes. Gary Jones made a spirited move into the box, and seemed capable of beating everyone. Unable to obtain a shooting chance, he seemed to drift a little wide, but found himself pulled to the ground. He got up to take the penalty himself and fired in a near perfect penalty giving the grey haired Shrews keeper no chance as the ball nestled in the back of the net sending the Dale fans housed behind that goal ballistic.

After that it was business as usual. Dale continued to outpass the home side, and looked capable of running up a cricket score. Shrewsbury could not cope with a Dale side that always looked to be able to step up a gear in needed. There were plenty of cries of Olé from the Dale fans as the players proved their superiority over the home side.

As the game entered its final few minutes, Shrewsbury found themselves a lifeline when Micky Brown grabbed a goal when he put the ball past Edwards following a crossed ball. Any thoughts of the home side snatching a point were quickly dispelled as Dale regained their two goal advantage within seconds. Yet another pinpoint pass saw Tony Ellis, a substitute for Lancashire, get the ball in more space than between your average Claret's head. He steadied himself before firing the ball into the bottom corner to secure the victory.

Despite three minutes of injury time to be played, the game was over bar the shouting and this made it nine wins away from Spotland this season in the league. The victory was very much deserved and the play offs are looking a real possibility again. For the home side, defeat sent them to the bottom of the league with relegation looming large.
Credit must be spread around the entire Dale team, who all played well without exception. Let's hope that there is a letter in the Observer knocking Peakey every week if this is how he responds. Platt is continuing to silence the doubters and could have had a hat trick today. The defence, despite conceding two, looked very solid.

The drive home was a very happy one. It is days like this which makes the seasons of misery worth it. To see Dale outclassing a team to such an extent was a joy to behold, and we could really have won by many more.

Photo: Action Images

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