Trading blows at the top: Dale remain locked in step with York

 

Kyron Gordon in action against Scunthorpe.

The second half of the year’s shortest month brought Rochdale another four fixtures to mirror the first. The first was a game in hand: a home meeting with Scunthorpe United, postponed back in November when the condition of Spotland’s pitch had been the worst of Dale’s concerns.

Scunthorpe, like Rochdale, were a club more readily associated with the Football League than with non-league exile. Yet, like Dale, this was where they now found themselves. Unlike Dale, however, Scunthorpe had failed to halt their slide after relegation, tumbling into the regional leagues before clawing their way back. Under Andy Butler, they had stabilised, returning to the National League and inserting themselves into the promotion picture, fourth at kick-off and already responsible for unsettling several of the division’s leading contenders.

For Dale, the stakes were straightforward. This was one of two games in hand. A draw or a win would return them to the summit, above York City. In the end, and but for a contentious penalty decision and a lack of clinical edge after the interval, the single point they collected might easily have been three.

Five changes were made from the Saturday draw at Yeovil Town, as Ethan Ebanks-Landell, Harvey Gilmour, Devante Rodney, Joe Pritchard and Dan Moss all returned to the starting XI.

It was a first half that never quite settled into rhythm yet rarely lacked incident. Within minutes Emmanuel Dieseruvwe was tripped by the last man 10 yards inside the visitors’ half. However, despite referee Darren Drysdale awarding a free-kick, there was no card shown to Will Evans. This set the tone from an officiating point of view.

Scrappy passages followed, loose touches and hurried clearances, but also spells where Dale pieced together some fluent sequences and worked their way into promising areas. Dieseruvwe looked certain to turn home Rodney’s cross after superb work from the Dale No.10, but couldn’t divert goalwards. Scunthorpe, to their credit, committed men forward and ensured it was a genuine contest.

The visitors struck first. A poor clearance from Kyron Gordon ricocheted off Harvey Gilmour, the loose ball falling kindly for Callum Roberts, Scunthorpe’s danger man who forever seemed to lurk on the right ready to cut in on his left foot. Dale’s defence retreated rather than engaged, affording him the space to set himself before arrowing a strike beyond Oliver Whatmuff from outside the area.

Then came the game’s most contentious talking point − if not the season’s. Dale had the chance to respond almost immediately from the spot, after Dieseruvwe was brought down, only for controversy to take centre stage. Dieseruvwe paused during his run-up and the referee then awarded a free-kick to Scunthorpe instead. It was a bewildering moment and one that may yet carry weight beyond this game. The question lingered: why the hesitation?

Referee Darren Drysdale tries to explain his position.

McNulty answered post-match. “I’ve never seen anything like what happened with the penalty,” he said. “I very rarely go in to see officials, but I did tonight. Mani [Dieseruvwe] is in the middle of taking the penalty and the referee is screaming at people on the edge of the box. For me, you should have this completely under control before you blow the whistle. Mani shouldn’t be running in to take a penalty while the referee is shouting and ushering.

“The referee felt Mani stopped his action. My take was Mani jogs up to the ball, hears shouting, thinks he has to wait, jogs past it, then prepares to take it again. The referee then gave an indirect free kick, but I don’t think there was clarity as to why he did. I got the sense [he and his fellow officials] didn’t know what had just happened.

“The referee’s assessor has since told me he believes a mistake was made − that Mani should be booked for not striking the ball but should be allowed to take the penalty again.

“I’m disappointed the officiating team didn’t know the rules on that. With what’s at stake, they should know. If something happens you’re unsure on, you take time, communicate and find the right solution. It’s worrying when they don’t know what the solution is in that moment. It’s had a massive impact on the game.”

To their credit, Dale did not allow frustration to consume them. The equaliser owed everything to industry and intelligent movement, the underlapping run creating the space and the opportunity that the persistence deserved. Kyron Gordon took a touch and delivered a low ball in. It caused issues in the box and, without hesitation, there was Ryan East to place it home. In a half of uneven quality but high drama, parity felt a fair reflection − even if the defining moment had come and gone.

Ryan East at least eased Dale frustration.

Where Scunthorpe made a genuine contest of the first half, the second was played almost entirely in their territory. Dale pushed them back, sustained pressure, and asked question after question.

Yet the same flaw that surfaced at Yeovil reappeared: no decisive touch, no one to force the ball over the line. The control was there, the territory was there, but the clinical edge was not. Set pieces, especially corners, were not up to the usual standard either.

A draw was enough to send Dale back to the top of the table. And yet, as the final whistle blew, the overriding feeling was of what might have been.

It was a similar feeling to when Rochdale visited Woking earlier in the season. There they found a side, and particularly a goalkeeper, very difficult to breach, despite being the dominant side. The result was a goalless draw that, to this point, represented the only game in which Rochdale had failed to score that season. Woking arrived at Spotland for the reverse fixture in no better position than they had been that day, languishing in the lower third of the National League, and, after two consecutive draws and York’s relentless form, it was felt that another blank simply could not be afforded.

In the end, there was no ambiguity. A 3-0 victory that felt routine in the way only genuinely good teams can make it feel. Both joy and relief were palpable around Spotland at the full-time whistle.

Jim McNulty’s lone change saw Jake Burger come in for the injured Aidan Barlow, with Tyler Smith returning to the bench. The rhythm, though, was unchanged. Dale started fast, as they have so often done, and thought they had struck inside four minutes when Emmanuel Dieseruvwe turned in Callum Perry’s delivery, only to see the flag raised. It was a warning shot more than a setback.

Kyron Gordon’s afternoon had a brief farcical interlude when, after being clipped as he surged into the box, he was instead booked for simulation by referee Steven Copeland. Three minutes later, justice arrived in a more tangible form: Joe Pritchard’s corner arced to the back post, Gordon timed his run impeccably, and his header powered past Woking keeper Will Jääskeläinen. The moment had the inevitability of a training-ground routine finally executed in anger.

The second goal came eight minutes later. A move built from the back ended with Ryan East threading the ball into Dieseruvwe, whose first touch took him away from his marker before he wrong-footed Jääskeläinen and side-footed the ball calmly into the bottom corner.

Mani D knows where the goal is against Woking.

Woking never truly threatened to disturb the pattern. Dale controlled territory and tempo, with overlapping centre-backs Gordon and Perry in particular providing the thrust that kept the visitors pinned back. There was a pleasing balance, too: plenty of progression down the right, but with Dan Moss’s late arrivals from the left forcing the Woking defenders into uncomfortable decisions, a dynamic that would later earn its reward.

That reward came in the 73rd minute, when Moss was tripped as he shaped to shoot. Penalty. After the midweek drama from the spot against Scunthorpe, there was a flicker of narrative tension, but Dieseruvwe dismissed it with clinical efficiency, burying his second of the afternoon and extinguishing any remaining doubt.

Beyond the goals, this felt like a mature performance. Burger, an irresistible magnet for fouls, slowed and accelerated the game at will, even if he occasionally lingered too long on the ball. Set pieces looked dangerous again. Devante Rodney was quieter than in midweek but worked to knit himself into Dieseruvwe’s orbit. Most reassuringly, the defence rediscovered its familiar solidity, a clean sheet that mattered as much psychologically as it did mathematically.

Woking were poor on the day, but poor teams still need beating. Dale beat them with minimum fuss and maximum control, an eighth win in ten that kept them perched at the summit.

They would stay there, at least until the following Tuesday, when they crossed the Pennines to face old rivals FC Halifax. The West Yorkshire side had inflicted one of Dale’s four league defeats in the reverse fixture − other than against Hartlepool, the only one they had suffered at home − so there was a sense that something was owed.

Halifax, meanwhile, were smarting from a 4-1 humbling at York City, a result that left Dale’s advantage in the National League at a solitary point, a lead that eroded upon full-time at The Shay.

Devante Rodney had given Dale a half-time lead before Tyler Smith doubled the advantage late on. However, 87th and 92nd minute goals from the hosts saw them claim a point in dramatic fashion.

Jim McNulty made two changes to the starting line-up from the 3-0 win over Woking. Tobi Adebayo-Rowling and Aidan Barlow both returned from injury, replacing Joe Pritchard, who had a tight hamstring, and Jake Burger.

There was a sense, at half-time, that Rochdale had navigated the most awkward part of the evening.

Halifax had started the sharper. The first chances fell to the hosts and Dale were required to be alert early on, throwing in timely blocks and staying switched on under pressure. It was not a dominant opening, but it was a mature one. Gradually, Dale found a gear.

The key lay down the right. Time and again, the space between Halifax’s centre-back and left-back was exposed. Once Ryan East began driving forward with conviction, the game tilted. His perfectly weighted through ball on 15 minutes released Devante Rodney, who burst into the area and finished powerfully in off the near post. It was a goal born of spotting a weakness and repeatedly probing it until it gave way.

Kyron Gordon gets a cross in against Halifax.

From there, Dale grew into the contest. Rodney was central to everything, stretching the line, threatening in behind, and creating uncertainty. Kyron Gordon’s downward header was superbly kept out by Sam Johnson, and Rodney flashed another effort across the face of goal from an unforgiving angle. The narrow lead at the break felt deserved, though far from decisive.

The second half followed a similar rhythm. Halifax carried threat − Oliver Whatmuff was called upon to make important saves, notably from Will Harris and Josh Hmami − but Dale continued to look the more incisive side. The defensive unit remained disciplined, bodies on the line when required.

When the second goal arrived, it seemed to settle matters. Harvey Gilmour drove through the middle and fed Connor McBride, whose saved effort fell kindly for Tyler Smith. After an initial denial, Smith forced home the rebound, aided by a deflection on the line. At 2–0 late on, Dale had surely sealed the points. Surely.

And yet, football rarely follows the script a beguiled writer begins drafting in his notebook.

Harris reduced the arrears in the 87th minute, altering the atmosphere in an instant. Whatmuff had palmed the initial shot from David Kawa into the unmarked forward’s path and he easily steered home. What had felt composed now felt fragile. Then, in stoppage time, former Dale loanee Cody Johnson delivered the ball into the box. Kawa headed it on into the path of Lavery, who struck decisively in the 92nd minute. From comfort to disbelief in the space of five minutes. Two sloppy goals conceded in a fashion very unlike that seen so far by the 2025/2026 Rochdale side.

For long stretches, Dale had shown discipline and attacking intent, weathering the early Halifax pressure and exploiting the space down the right with purpose. Yet even at 2–0, this was not a performance flowing in its usual rhythm. The early withdrawal of Adebayo-Rowling disrupted the balance, with Bryce Hossanah introduced at right wing-back. His struggles there prompted a further reshuffle, Dan Moss switching flanks in what felt like little more than robbing Peter to pay Paul − solving one problem while creating another.

‘In terms of the game plan, we had Tobi out there,’ McNulty said afterwards. ‘He starts the game and then has to limp off with an injury. He’s got a slight hamstring situation there which we’ll assess. It’s an unforeseen and unfortunate change.’

The change unsettled the structure, and the removal of Emmanuel Dieseruvwe before the hour compounded it. With no natural outlet to hold the ball up, possession returned too quickly and too frequently. The control that had underpinned much of the evening became increasingly fragile. The warning signs were there, even before Halifax struck.

But the failure to see out the final moments ensured the night would be remembered less for its good points and more for its sting. A point gained on paper. Two points lost in reality.

York City, as had become habit, won yet again. This time, 3-0 away at Scunthorpe which meant, even if Rochdale should win their one remaining game in hand, the title was still in the Minstermen’s own destiny with the two teams due to play each other on the season’s final day.

Tobi Adebayo-Rowling would not be the only defensive issue McNulty would need to assess, as centre-back Liam Hogan, understudy to Ethan Ebanks-Landell for much of the season, left to join fellow National League side Morecambe.

‘An opportunity came for Liam beyond this season, which is not something that would ever have been guaranteed at this football club,’ McNulty admitted. ‘Speaking to a 37-year-old man with a family who’s given his all for us, there’s a human element to this that you need to consider. That is a position we will look to bolster and recruit immediately.’

If the fatigue of February’s relentless schedule was indeed beginning to tell on the Rochdale squad, then the prospect of travelling to Aldershot Town just four days later would scarcely have lifted spirits. Managed by former Dale boss John Coleman, the Hampshire side had lost just once in their previous 12 matches, and there was a growing sense that Rochdale had faced them at precisely the right moment earlier in the season − when Coleman was still finding his feet, but already imprinting a resilience that would soon make Aldershot difficult to beat.

There had been a touch of fortune in Dale’s 1–0 victory at Spotland, and even on that afternoon there was a hint that Coleman’s side were on an upward trajectory, destined to climb further up the National League table.

After the late sting at Halifax, there was a psychological hurdle to clear, but clear it this Rochdale side did. A 2–0 victory, secured by an eighth brace from Emmanuel Dieseruvwe, the most by one Dale player in a season since 1946/47, extended the unbeaten run to 12 and once again underlined the resilience of this team.

Jim McNulty made one enforced change, Joe Pritchard replacing the injured Tobi Adebayo-Rowling. The shape remained familiar. The intent, at least initially, was less so. The first half was scrappy. Aldershot were determined to turn the contest into something fractured and chaotic, particularly in and around Dale’s penalty area. Loose balls, second phases, awkward deliveries − it was clear the hosts had identified disorder as their ally. When Dale did win it back, the instinct was to break, but too often promising moments were undone by basic passes going astray. Retention, not incision, was the issue.

Yet this side carries a striker who requires little invitation.

The opener stemmed from defensive resolve: a strong intervention on the edge of Dale’s box regained possession, Devante Rodney surged forward, and Dieseruvwe was found in stride. Two touches, composure, and a firm finish into the near bottom corner from just outside the area.

An eighth brace of the season for Mani D.

Aldershot attempted to respond immediately but were met by a line of blue shirts and a goalkeeper in Oliver Whatmuff who, together with his defence, were alert to the second balls and ricochets that had defined the half. Even so, at 1–0, it did not feel settled. As ever, one goal rarely does.

The second half told a different story. If the first had been ragged, the second was controlled. Dale kept the ball with greater authority, moved it with purpose rather than haste, and in doing so quietened both the game and the home support. It was, in many respects, the response you would have wanted to see after Tuesday − bouncebackability indeed.

The second goal arrived via persistence. A move down the left seemed to have broken down, Dieseruvwe’s clipped pass cut out. The loose ball, however, dropped kindly. On the turn from 20 yards, he whipped it into the bottom corner. Ruthless.

From there, control hardened into comfort. Kwame Thomas headed over with Aldershot’s best opportunity five minutes after the second, but while the hosts enjoyed the majority of possession in the closing stages, they rarely looked like troubling Dale’s clean sheet. The structure held. The distances were right. The chaos was gone.

Interestingly, the closing minutes saw a brief reshuffle − Ian Henderson dropping into midfield, Harvey Gilmour pushing on, hinting at the latter worryingly carrying a knock − yet the framework was no different to previous weeks. The distinction lay in execution. This time, at 2–0, the ball was kept. And when you control the ball, you control the game. The lesson from Halifax had been absorbed swiftly.

By late afternoon, Dale were back on top of the National League table − if only temporarily. Attention turned to the 5.30pm televised kick-off, where York faced Morecambe. The latter, revitalised by former Dale manager Jim Bentley and marshalled on the field by former Dale centre-back Liam Hogan, produced a defiant display. Reduced to 10 men, a penalty saved, bodies thrown in front of everything. For long stretches, it appeared the title picture might tilt in Rochdale’s favour.

But promotion races are rarely generous. Deep into 10 minutes of added time, Ollie Banks side-footed home to return York to the summit by a single point.

And so, the month closed with the two sides remaining locked in a relentless exchange at the top. Nip and tuck. Punch for punch. Two months remaining, little margin for error.

As always, my eternal thanks to The Voice of Spotland/Dan Youngs/Rochdale AFC for use of images.

Rochdale’s February ascent halted

 

Mani D put Boreham Wood to the sword.

When Rochdale AFC began the season with a 2–0 win at Boreham Wood, it felt like the kind of result you appreciate and then move on from: quickly swallowed by the long churn of August football. A good start, certainly, but hardly a line in the sand.

Even head coach Jim McNulty said at the time: “There’s an anxiety around the opening-day fixture. It’s almost as if life and death hinges on the result. It doesn’t, of course, but, overall, we can only be delighted that we have come to a newly promoted team, who were riding the crest of a wave, and leave having scored two goals and secured a clean sheet.”

Back then, Luke Garrard’s side were viewed as industrious newcomers, newly promoted and presumably destined for the familiar arc: a bright start, a stern lesson or two, and an eventual settling into mid-table reality. Even when Boreham Wood’s early momentum refused to dissipate, there remained a sense that the laws of the league would catch up with them sooner or later – that the pace would drop and the run would… well, run out.

By the time February arrived, though, the Wood had done more than survive. They had lodged themselves in the promotion conversation, and in doing so had recontextualised Rochdale’s opening-day win. What had once felt routine now looked like a small but significant advantage banked early as the top six took shape.

And shape it had. The claustrophobia of a few weeks earlier had loosened, the race narrowing into something more familiar: a two-horse exchange between Rochdale and York City, the Minstermen relentless, Dale equally stubborn, repeatedly using their games in hand to claw back first place whenever it threatened to drift.

This fixture, then, offered Rochdale a chance to do it again. Boreham Wood’s season had been impressive, but they arrived at Spotland bruised by three straight defeats and further compromised by injuries and suspensions. It is a phrase that gets leaned on too readily, but there are moments when it fits without irony: there really was no better time to play them. Dale did not waste it.

Ian Henderson’s 165th goal in a Dale shirt.

A convincing 4–1 victory sent McNulty’s side back to the summit of the National League, built on an opening spell of control that quickly became dominance. Goals from Devante Rodney and Emmanuel Dieseruvwe put Rochdale two up by the interval, Dieseruvwe added a third after the break, and though the visitors briefly reduced the deficit from the spot, Ian Henderson’s 165th goal in a Dale shirt made sure there would be no late uncertainty.

McNulty made two changes from the previous week’s 2–1 win over Southend United, restoring Tarryn Allarakhia and Dieseruvwe to the starting XI, with Dan Moss and Henderson dropping to the bench. The impact was immediate. Rochdale asserted themselves from the outset, repeatedly forcing Boreham Wood backwards.

Dieseruvwe was central to the sixth-minute opener, doing what he does best: taking the ball under pressure, holding it up and bringing others into play. He worked it out to Tobi Adebayo-Rowling on the right, and the wing-back’s cross was inviting. Rodney met it with a calm, glancing header into the bottom corner, leaving Nathan Ashmore with no chance.

There was similarly little the Boreham Wood goalkeeper could do about the second. Just before the half-hour, Ryan East’s inswinging corner found Dieseruvwe, who rose highest and powered his header home for his 14th of the season.

Boreham Wood did at least offer a reminder that they were not there simply to make up the numbers. Three minutes later, Oliver Whatmuff was forced into a sharp intervention, palming Zak Brunt’s free-kick over the bar. But the balance of the game remained unmistakable.

If the first half had been controlled, the second began with something more ruthless. Five minutes after the restart, Dieseruvwe pounced on a loose pass, drove forward, and did the rest himself − juggling the ball past a defender, shifting it into space, and finishing with clinical accuracy. At 3–0, the contest looked settled.

A brief wobble followed. Whatmuff brought down Matt Rush after Boreham Wood split the Dale defence with an excellent through-ball, and Brunt converted the penalty to make it 3–1. For a moment, there was the faint outline of jeopardy − not from the players on the pitch, but enough for supporters to demand a response.

Henderson, introduced from the bench, seemed to provide it immediately, thundering in a header that was ruled out for offside. He did not have to wait long for the correction. Kyron Gordon slid a fine ball in behind for another substitute, Aidan Barlow, whose composure in the final third was exemplary: head up, body balanced, low cross delivered with pace. Henderson arrived where he always seems to arrive, close range and on time, slamming home to restore the three-goal cushion and confirm the points.

Mani D juggles the ball through the defence to score his second.

There would be no let up for Dale, however. Just four days later they faced another reverse fixture against a promotion-chasing side – this time third-placed Carlisle. Like against Boreham Wood, Dale had secured a 2-0 victory earlier in the season against the Cumbrians, whose own supporters were demanding an immediate return to League Two.

On that windy September afternoon, Dale had dominated their more fancied hosts and rightly left with the plaudits and the points.

This time, Dan Moss’ first goal in a Rochdale shirt, struck just before the interval, proved enough to settle the contest. The 1–0 victory stretched Dale’s winning run to six and kept them top of the National League, with second-placed York doing their part elsewhere courtesy of a 2–1 win over Forest Green.

Dan Moss slips in to give Dale the winning goal against Carlisle.

Jim McNulty rang two changes from the emphatic 4–1 success against Boreham Wood. Moss and Aidan Barlow came in for Tarryn Allarakhia and Jake Burger, while Connor McBride returned to the matchday squad. The latter only added to the quietly intriguing trend of No.10s being rotated and repurposed as the season developed.

It took Dale a while to settle after a scrappy opening, with Carlisle causing early problems in the first 15 minutes as the ball spent plenty of time in the air and was repeatedly hooked forward. Once Dale did manage to calm the game, though, the pattern became clear: Rochdale monopolised possession, while Carlisle were content to retreat into their shape, stay compact and allow Dale’s back three to circulate the ball. The home side’s dominance was such that the visiting support resorted to ironic cries of “ole” as passes were exchanged across the defensive line.

The breakthrough, when it came, was well earned. Three minutes before the break, Barlow’s wide free-kick was floated towards the back post, where Moss slid in to turn the ball home from close range. It was almost two moments later that Ebanks-Landell’s header, drifting wide, proved to be the final action of the opening 45 minutes.

After the restart, Dale continued to probe. Rodney sent a free-kick over the bar, Ebanks-Landell again headed high, and Oliver Whatmuff was finally called into action, calmly gathering Harvey Macadam’s attempted lob. Despite the slender margin, there was never much sense of panic. Dale looked largely comfortable, even if the second goal their control merited proved elusive.

They came agonisingly close in the closing stages. Tobi Adebayo-Rowling’s low delivery nearly found substitute Ian Henderson, only for a vital touch from Carlisle goalkeeper Gabriel Breeze to divert it away. Henderson then slipped between defence and keeper moments later, but his delicate chip drifted inches wide.

Carlisle could have few complaints about the scoreline. They arrived with a plan, and it was followed faithfully: restrict space, stifle Rochdale, and hope for something to fall their way. That something never did. Dale’s own approach, even without hitting top gear, remained consistent and ultimately decisive.

The home side were not at their slickest, particularly in moving the ball cleanly through the thirds, with some uncharacteristic imprecision in passing and control. Carlisle’s deliberate congestion of the pitch, especially to blunt Rochdale’s potent right-hand side, had some effect, though Dale were unable to exploit the space left elsewhere with enough regularity.

Moss’ inclusion perhaps limited attacking options on the left, but his defensive assurance and, more importantly, his winning goal more than justified the selection. Further forward, Emmanuel Dieseruvwe was unable to replicate the influence he had shown four days earlier, with the service into him inconsistent and Whatmuff visibly frustrated at times. It was one of those afternoons where things didn’t quite click, but that happens over a long season.

What mattered was the outcome. This was a comfortable win against a side widely tipped before the campaign as more credible title contenders than Rochdale. Right now, they look a long way short of the cohesion and balance McNulty has instilled in his team.

Captain Ethan Ebanks-Landell kept the defence resolute.

Seventy points after just 28 games. An extraordinary return. The victory also marked a small piece of history: Rochdale had won their first six league matches of a calendar year for the first time ever. Phenomenal, by any measure.

Not content to settle, Rochdale added experience to their midfield with the signing of Ed Francis from Exeter City on a two-and-a-half-year deal. The 26-year-old, who was part of Notts County’s National League promotion side in 2023 and later lifted the FA Trophy with Gateshead, had enjoyed a varied career that had taken him from Manchester City’s academy to spells in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Francis said he was “absolutely thrilled” to complete the move and hoped to add leadership to a squad “already flying”. He also arrived with a fond (or painful) memory for Dale fans, having scored a left-footed screamer for Gateshead against Rochdale in their first season back in the National League. With Harvey Gilmour, Ryan East and Casey Pettit already forming a credible core, the left-footed Francis added depth to what was quickly becoming one of Dale’s most convincing departments. However, having lacked minutes on the pitch for Exeter so far this season, Francis would have to wait to make his Dale debut.

Next up at Spotland came Robbie Savage’s Forest Green Rovers. Early-season pace setters, the Gloucestershire club had since slipped to sixth, their initial momentum blunted by a congested pack of chasers. Rochdale, meanwhile, could point to a narrow victory in the reverse fixture: a single, carefully protected goal, and a lesson in how to close out a game against opponents happy to sit back and wait for mistakes.

Savage, in the build-up to this match, was keen to suggest that those mistakes would not be repeated. Lessons, he said, had been learned. This Forest Green would be less accommodating, less passive − more in your face.

They were, for the most part. But Emmanuel Dieseruvwe’s double earned Dale a seventh consecutive win, a 2–1 victory on a rain-soaked Wednesday night that further entrenched the sense that Spotland now comes with its own microclimate. Regular readers could be forgiven for suspecting Rochdale has quietly opted out of dry weather altogether.

Jim McNulty made one change from the weekend’s win over Carlisle United, with Jake Burger replacing Aidan Barlow as one of the two No.10s. The game began as though Dale had been waiting to explode into it. Inside two minutes, a move down the right saw Forest Green’s Elijah Morrison lose his footing on the greasy surface, Tobi Abedayo-Rowling was able to take full advantage, feeding Devante Rodney, who played in Kyron Gordon squared, and Dieseruvwe tapped in from six yards.

Forest Green’s response was immediate. Ricardo Rees went through one-on-one, only for Oliver Whatmuff to stay big and smother the chance, but the visitors soon found their feet. A loose clearance dropped to Kyle McAllister on the edge of the box, a mistimed slide tackle from Harvey Gilmour took him out of the game, and the No.10 was able to drill a left-foot shot into the bottom corner. Forest Green, for all their structural looseness, still carried enough individual quality to punish.

Whatmuff had to be sharp again on the stroke of half-time, pushing away Nick Haughton’s free-kick, ensuring parity at the break. The second half began with controversy: Dan Moss appeared to have restored Dale’s lead from a Ryan East corner, the ball seemingly prodded over the line amid Forest Green protestations, only for the officials to wave play on. The replay later proved inconclusive.

Justice, of a sort, arrived on 65 minutes. Moss, already quietly enjoying another influential week, slid in on the left and somehow hooked the ball with the outside of his boot into Dieseruvwe’s path. One touch to set, one to finish: clinical, unflustered, brilliant.

Devante Rodney put in a shift against Forest Green.

Dale could have had a third when Rodney was denied by a heroic goal-line clearance, Forest Green bodies thrown in the way as if the season depended on it. Instead, it was McNulty’s side who managed the closing stages with composure. The bench made sensible interventions, the shape held, and the visitors never quite mustered a coherent late siege.

Elsewhere, York City’s late, late penalty ensured they remained just two points behind, but the significance of this night was less about the table and more about the manner of the performance. Dale conceded, regrouped and found a winner without ever surrendering control. When Forest Green wanted to come at them, Dale went with it − end-to-end, opportunistic, but never reckless.

There were, as ever, small imperfections: a few heavy touches, some loose passing, the occasional sense that a natural attacking outlet on the left might have helped (Tarryn Allarakhia watched on from the bench). But it is hard to complain when Moss is contributing to winners at this rate and the team looks capable of scoring more than it needs.

Forest Green, for all their signings and ambition, are no further up the table than they were a few months ago and still felt slightly improvised. Rochdale, by contrast, increasingly look like a side with a plan that everyone understands.

And no one, perhaps, understands that plan better than Harvey Gilmour, who has been part of the McNulty blueprint from the ground floor. Gilmour boosted supporter glee further by committing his immediate future to the club, signing a new deal that will keep him at Spotland until the summer of 2027. It felt both deserved and timely, given his performances had attracted scouts to recent matches. Gilmour is the engine and heartbeat of this side: tireless, relentlessly hardworking, and quietly improving with each season. He drags Dale up the pitch when games threaten to drift and is the kind of midfielder around whom most managers would love to build their teams.

His contract extension came alongside Callum Perry’s loan being stretched through to the end of the season, another small but significant piece of good housekeeping. Perry had stepped into the considerable void left by Sam Beckwith’s injury with a composure that belies both his age and his temporary status, and his continued presence at left centre-back offered a degree of stability.

So, with a cluster of promotion heavyweights dispatched as the month amazingly only reached its midway point, and signings and contract extensions in the bag, the mood around Rochdale AFC was unsurprisingly buoyant, this echoed by the atmosphere at the Fans’ Forum – in recent history surly and combative, but this season softened into something resembling a genteel tea party, buoyed by the club’s revival.

Typical then that the final entry for this blog provides a bit of a downer. After all that had come before, a trip to 17^th-placed Yeovil Town would seem like what a golfer would call a ‘gimme’, especially given the ease with which Rochdale dismantled them in the reverse fixture.

Unfortunately, Rochdale had to settle for a 1–1 draw at Huish Park, the goals arriving within two breathless minutes in the first quarter of an hour. It was enough to shift the mood of the afternoon and, by full-time, enough to shift Dale off top spot as York edged ahead on goal difference being once again victorious. Perspective was required, but so too was honesty.

Jim McNulty made four changes from the midweek win over Forest Green. Liam Hogan, Tarryn Allarakhia, Casey Pettit and Aidan Barlow came into the side, with new signing Ed Francis among the substitutes. Rotation has been a constant theme in recent weeks; the idea of an untouched “best XI” is more imagined than real.

Dale began well. They controlled the tempo, moved the ball with authority and looked the more coherent side. The breakthrough after 13 minutes was well constructed: Kyron Gordon fizzed a pass into Emmanuel Dieseruvwe, who turned sharply and threaded a clever ball into Barlow’s path. The finish was calm, precise.

But the lead lasted less than two minutes. From a deep free-kick, Yeovil pushed up, Dale held a high line, and Finn Cousin-Dawson looped a header over Oliver Whatmuff, who was caught just off his line. It was a soft concession, particularly after the control that had preceded it, and it handed momentum to the home side.

Dale steadied themselves before the break without truly threatening again. The early authority had faded, replaced by a game that felt more contested, more ragged.

The opening stages of the second half were uncomfortable. Battles were lost across the pitch, second balls claimed in green and white, and Yeovil sensed vulnerability. Yet Dale’s defensive resilience − the foundation of their season − held firm. They weathered the storm.

Midway through the half Aaron Jarvis was dismissed for an elbow on Gordon, and the contest tilted. With the numerical advantage, Dale built sustained pressure. Gordon saw a shot blocked, Barlow curled narrowly wide, Pettit drew a low stop from Jed Ward. Ethan Ebanks-Landell, introduced at the interval, was thrown forward late on; Joe Pritchard cushioned a volley over; Devante Rodney headed off target; Pettit’s curling effort was well held.

Everything, it seemed, came down the right. The end product, too often, did not.

It was one of those afternoons. Wasteful in key moments, particularly against ten men. For the first time this season, Dale dropped points from a winning position. Only their second draw of the campaign.

Casey Pettit was handed a start in midfield against Yeovil.

If there is reassurance to be found, it lies in what has carried them this far. The back three − rarely altered − and the broader defensive structure have provided a platform all season. Dale are not always as free-flowing in front of goal as one might wish, but they have been exemplary without the ball. Tampering unnecessarily with that foundation perhaps felt a risk, even though no fault beyond the goal could be attributed to any of the personnel there.

Further forward, questions do linger, however. The No.10 role has been a conundrum throughout the season. That observation may sound entitled given the record, but it is possible to admire the points tally while recognising areas for improvement. At times, Dale do not feel ruthless enough. Rodney’s endeavour is clear, for example, yet the return in front of goal at this stage of the season invites scrutiny. The crosses too, were wasted, many not finding their mark. This led to the spyglass being placed on wing-back Tobi Adebayo-Rowling and overlapping centre-back Kyron Gordon, but, again, an off day can be forgiven for a pair who have contributed 16 assists this season from the right of the pitch.

The depth from the bench is there too; the timing and impact of changes will matter as the run-in tightens.

As for the familiar cry of “why change a winning team?”, it overlooks recent weeks. The side has been rotated regularly and to great effect. It seems only when points are dropped it becomes an issue.

None of this amounts to crisis. York may be top for now, but there remains a long road ahead. Tuesday brings a game in hand and with it an opportunity − though one that will demand composure. Scunthorpe, wounded by a heavy home defeat, will arrive desperate for a response.

Level heads are needed now, from players and supporters alike. Dale’s defence, discipline and collective spirit have put them in this position. Staying calm may yet prove as important as any tactical tweak.

There is plenty of football still to be played.

As always, my thanks to The Voice of Spotland/Dan Youngs/Rochdale AFC for use of images.

Back home, back on top: Rochdale’s January blitz

 

Ian Henderson lifted the tempo at No.9 against Solihull Moors.

After festive disruption, departures, incomings and a necessary dose of pragmatism, Rochdale AFC entered mid-January intact − not propelled to the summit, but positioned close enough to it to remain credible title challengers, and with sterner examinations still to come.

The first of those arrived at Damson Park, and in a very different guise to the fixture Dale might have anticipated earlier in the season. Solihull Moors, dismantled with ease in the reverse meeting, had since been quietly reassembled into something far more coherent. Improved organisation without the ball had been matched by greater incision with it; one defeat in their previous seven fixtures, coupled with an impressive return of 22 goals, had lifted them into 10th place in the National League entering the game week. Under Chris Millington, Solihull no longer resembled convenient opposition, but a side beginning to look every inch a play-off contender.

In the event, Rochdale left with three points and another clean sheet − further evidence that this side’s foundations are built not on flair but on an almost obstinate refusal to be beaten. On a wet and blustery night, against opponents who have made a habit of scoring freely, Dale’s defensive assurance proved decisive.

Solihull were content in the opening exchanges to allow Rochdale’s centre-backs time on the ball, only springing their press once possession was worked into midfield or out towards the wing-backs. It made for a cagey first half, though Rochdale gradually progressed more consistently into the final third, breaking lines with increasing regularity even if clear chances remained elusive. The best fell to Connor McBride, who did everything right in creating space for himself but then lashed his finish wildly over, power replacing precision at the critical moment.

The second half was settled by a stoppage-time goal that owed as much to the conditions as to intention. From 20 yards, substitute Joe Pritchard struck through the ball and allowed the wind to carry it beyond goalkeeper Laurie Walker and into the top corner − a finish that will be remembered fondly regardless of whether it was entirely meant. Rochdale were not about to waste such fortune. Their miserly defence performed exactly as expected, keeping what little Solihull could muster at bay with a composure that suggested the outcome was never in doubt.

One-nil to the wind but Joe Pritchard isn't caring.

If there was an area of concern, it lay further forward. Rochdale lacked urgency and aggression in front of goal, missing the kind of presence provided by a Burger, Barlow or Allarakhia − someone capable of unsettling defenders and offering something different on the ball. Manny Duku, unlike against Gateshead, struggled to impose himself as the No.9, while Ian Henderson’s introduction − his 500th appearance for the club − lifted the tempo and underlined the value of an alternative option. Casey Pettit, another substitute, again made a telling contribution in midfield, showing that his presence does not diminish Rochdale’s strength in the slightest.

Overall, this felt like another marker laid down by a side whose defensive solidity is becoming a defining feature. Against a prolific home team, Rochdale never looked like conceding a chance, let alone a goal. The conditions did little to aid attacking fluency, but the lack of a spark in the final third was clear. Still, the depth, mentality and steel within this squad are striking − qualities rarely assembled in such measure at Spotland.

The Hartlepool defeat in December already felt a long way in the past, even if only two league games had intervened. More importantly, the victory lifted Rochdale to second in the National League, just a point adrift of leaders York but with three games in hand on the Minstermen. At this stage of the season the table itself demanded a double take, with the top six compressed into a margin of just five points.

Callum Perry is already looking astute at left centre-back.

Three days later, Rochdale returned at long last to their spiritual home. Spotland welcomed them back for the visit of lowly Truro City, played out on a newly laid pitch following a complete renovation that had begun in early December.

The mid-season overhaul was, by the club’s own metrics, transformative. Where the previous surface struggled to drain more than 5mm of water per hour, the new pitch was already achieving an average filtration rate of around 500mm per hour − a figure that proved its worth almost immediately, with heavy rainfall passing cleanly through the turf in the week leading up to the Truro match.

Further renovation work is scheduled for the close of the season, with the aim of pushing filtration rates higher still and completing the long-term reset of the surface. OBI Sports will remain involved as consultants over the next 12 to 18 months, ensuring continuity rather than quick fixes.

This work is the product of sustained backing from the ownership group. For a club whose winter momentum has too often been disrupted by the elements, this was not simply a cosmetic upgrade but a necessary intervention. If Rochdale’s promotion push is to be decided on footballing terms alone, then January’s most important work may not have been done on the training pitch or in the transfer market, but deep beneath the grass at Spotland. For that, and for the commitment of the Ogden family, effusive gratitude feels entirely appropriate.

Rochdale, in response, played as though they had never been away, delivering a performance as controlled as it was dominant, even if the 2-0 scoreline stubbornly refused to reflect the full extent of that authority.

From the opening exchanges this was a side intent on making a statement, moving the ball sharply across the pitch, stretching Truro from flank to flank, but always with an eye for the incisive pass through the centre. There, Ian Henderson’s movement gave shape and purpose to almost every attack, pulling defenders out of position and ensuring Dale played on the front foot from the outset.

The breakthrough came almost immediately. Liam Hogan, stepping into the side, acted as a quiet orchestrator, strolling forward and drawing Truro out of position. For all the patience required in Hogan’s use of the ball − and the scepticism that greeted his inclusion in some quarters − his contribution deserved credit. Adjusting seamlessly to Dale’s rhythms after barely featuring, the former Oldham man brought composure and clarity.

His involvement in the opening goal saw him switch play to the right, where Kyron Gordon found Henderson. What followed − a perfectly weighted through ball − was pure Henderson, and Tyler Smith did the rest, sliding a composed finish beyond the goalkeeper inside three minutes. It encapsulated Henderson’s influence in the final third, his intelligence and movement allowing Smith to thrive. Smith, in turn, looked sharper and more confident than at any point in a Dale shirt, before yet another untimely injury brought his afternoon to a premature end.

Ian Henderson couldn't find the mark with his penalty versus Truro...

It set the tone for a first half played almost entirely on Dale’s terms. Aidan Barlow curled an effort against the post, Smith fired over, and when Henderson dragged a penalty wide after Gordon was brought down, it briefly threatened to become one of those afternoons where dominance goes unrewarded. Yet even amid that frustration, Dale’s structure never wavered. Harvey Gilmour, operating higher up the pitch alongside Casey Pettit, twice went close − his growing influence underlined by a fierce effort that crashed back off the bar after excellent work down the left from Tarryn Allarakhia.

Henderson, marking his 41st birthday and a remarkable 501st appearance for the club, was never going to allow the missed penalty to define the afternoon. Three minutes later, Dale’s all-time leading goalscorer made amends in the only way he knows how, finishing neatly to register his 164th goal in Dale colours.

The second half was a calmer, more assured affair, though no less one-sided, and Dale could − and probably should − have added further gloss to the scoreline. Barlow was denied from close range, Connor McBride rattled the underside of the bar, and then − in a moment that neatly summed up the afternoon − Henderson’s stooping header struck the upright before being cleared.

The most notable development after the break, however, was the re-emergence of Mani Dieseruvwe following a lengthy lay-off. Not only did the substitute look like a player untouched by absence, but he arguably produced a performance of a higher standard than immediately before his injury, adding physical presence and sharpness to an already commanding team display.

By full time, the lingering question was not how Dale had won, but how they had won by only two. This was an utterly dominant display, rich in control and invention, even if the woodwork insisted on having the final say.

...but he did moments later from open play to score his 164th Dale goal.

January still had one piece of unfinished business. To close the month, Southend United returned to Spotland to contest the fixture abandoned to the elements in December. On that occasion, Kevin Maher’s side had been the better team before Dale adapted more effectively to the conditions, the referee eventually halting proceedings with Rochdale leading 2–1. With the pitch resembling the Norfolk Broads by that point, few could argue with the decision.

For those with an eye for irony, there were wry smiles ahead of the rescheduled fixture too, as the heavens once again emptied themselves in the build-up to kick-off. Even the club seemed to appreciate it, posting pictures of the pitch being watered by sprinklers moments before the game.

Rain aside, this time it went ahead − and, eventually, it reached a conclusion worth waiting for.

Harvey Gilmour’s 90th-minute winner lifted Rochdale to the summit of the National League, two points clear of York City and with two games in hand.

Jim McNulty’s team selection hinted at careful calculation. Dan Moss was deployed at left wing-back to blunt the threat of Gus Scott-Morriss, while Jake Burger returned to the starting XI. Aidan Barlow and Connor McBride were omitted altogether, a further indication of McNulty’s willingness to rotate as Rochdale navigate a demanding run of fixtures.

Southend, perhaps mindful of Dale’s recent attacking fluency, were content to concede possession in deeper areas. Rochdale monopolised the ball, circulating it calmly across the back and into midfield, crafting neat approach play without quite landing the decisive blow. There were inviting deliveries into the box − the kind you felt Mani Dieseruvwe would have thrived upon had he been on the pitch − but for all the time spent in the final third, Southend goalkeeper Collin Andeng-Ndi remained largely untroubled. It was a different contest to the more open meetings between the sides in recent seasons: Southend appeared to have arrived with restraint in mind, seemingly happy to depart with a point from the opening whistle.

However, against the run of play, they struck five minutes before the interval. Andy Dallas won a free-kick on Dale’s left, and when it was swung into the area Scott-Morriss exploited a high and static defensive line, flicking the ball goalwards before following up from close range. Rochdale have lived comfortably with a high line all season, but this time it looked unusually rigid, with the usually infallible Ollie Whatmuff caught in two minds and positioned too far from his line to intervene.

The response was immediate and emphatic. Kyron Gordon surged down the right, shifted the ball onto his left foot just outside the area and bent a magnificent equaliser into the far corner − a goal that restored both parity and momentum.

Kyron Gordon celebrates his finish against Southend with Devante Rodney.

After the break, possession was more evenly shared as the contest tightened and both managers turned to their benches. For Rochdale, the changes proved decisive. Joe Pritchard and Tarryn Allarakhia injected pace and invention down the left, building on Moss’s largely excellent containment of Scott-Morriss in open play.

The winner came on the cusp of full time. Mani Dieseruvwe, introduced from the bench, brought the ball under control and slipped Pritchard into the area. As Andeng-Ndi raced out to narrow the angle, Pritchard kept his composure, rounded him and squared for Gilmour, who turned the ball home from close range to ignite wild celebrations at Spotland.

Southend ultimately offered little sustained pressure, contrary to pre-match expectations. Rochdale played their familiar possession-based game, albeit without the volume of chances seen in recent outings − possibly a reflection of facing the division’s second-best defence rather than any lack of enterprise.

Moss’s deployment at left wing-back proved a shrewd tactical call, depriving Scott-Morriss of space and influence. Later adjustments, including the reshuffle that paired Gilmour with Casey Pettit in midfield and pushed Ryan East into a wider role, further stymied Southend’s growing foothold. The final, fatal intervention came with the introduction of Pritchard, whose combination with Allarakhia down the left directly delivered the winner.

This was a victory built not on dominance alone but on composure, adaptability and trust in the squad. McNulty’s rotations − both before kick-off and from the bench − were vindicated in another performance that carried the look of title intent.

The Southend win was the starting gun for a punishing spell: nine games in 33 days, six of them against sides currently in the top eight. There were groans at Spotland during Truro and Southend, impatience at the slow churn of possession. Yet with a team this settled in its method, deviation for now would feel not just unnecessary, but self-sabotaging. February will tell its own story.

Harvey Gilmour is mobbed by his team-mates after notching the winner.

As always, my thanks to The Voice of Spotland/Dan Youngs/Rochdale AFC for use of images

Frozen pitches, fresh faces and a job done for Rochdale

 

Jake Burger drives forward against Tamworth.

By the time Rochdale AFC emerged from the festive break, they had slipped from first to fifth in the National League without kicking a ball. The irony was hard to miss. A temporary move from Spotland to Accrington’s Wham Stadium, after pitch problems at home, ended in familiar frustration as a nationwide freeze rendered yet another surface unplayable, postponing the scheduled game against Brackley. Those title rivals spared by the freeze took full advantage.

When football finally returned, it did so not in the league but in the FA Trophy, with a fourth-round trip to Tamworth offering no immediate route back to the summit. It did, however, provide something else: an opportunity for several first-team regulars to continue their rehabilitation after spells out through injury and international duty.

There had been a reshaping of the squad during the enforced downtime, too. Liam Humbles, who had barely troubled the starting XI since joining the club in the summer, was sent on loan to Altrincham until the end of the season.

Levi Amantchi, Charlie Waller and Nathan Broome returned to their parent clubs following expiration of loan spells, while Ryan Galvin was recalled by Barnet. Amantchi’s five months at Dale were modest in numbers but timely in impact, his late-July arrival yielding 20 appearances and a pair of goals, the most significant of which secured safe passage through to the FA Trophy fourth round at Leamington. Upon returning to Walsall, he was almost immediately transferred back to the National League, this time with Gateshead.

Broome’s contribution was briefer but more impactful: drafted in amid injury to Ollie Whatmuff, he brought calm and competence between the posts, keeping clean sheets in two of his four outings. Waller, likewise, made a competent fist of covering Sam Beckwith’s injury during his one-month stay. Galvin departed with a respectable record in Dale colours − five appearances, four wins – even if he himself did not set the world ablaze at left wing-back.

None were long-term fixtures, but each served a purpose at a moment when the squad needed reinforcement.

Amantchi’s departure in particular, however, left Dale with a familiar problem. Emmanuel Dieseruvwe’s injury had already exposed the thinness of options at No.9, forcing reliance on the evergreen Ian Henderson − now 40 − with only a brief and not-entirely-convincing flirtation with Tyler Smith as an alternative. Smith is much more effective operating at No.10. So, when the club announced it had moved to reinforce that position, the news was greeted with palpable relief − albeit tempered by more than a few raised eyebrows.

Perry, Duku and Bilongo joined Dale in the same week.

The reinforcement arrived in the shape of Manny Duku, a 33-year-old Dutch forward recruited from mid-table Tamworth, a signing that offered both cause for optimism and reason for caution. Duku had made fast starts before. At Raith Rovers in 2020/21 he scored in every League Cup group game, including a superb first-time finish from a tight angle against Hearts, later adding a penalty in a 3–2 league win over the Tynecastle side. Ten goals in 12 appearances suggested momentum appeared firmly with him.

At his best, Duku showed sharp movement, finished chances well and was willing to press − never rapid, but quick enough. The concern was sustainability. That early burst at Raith gave way to a 16-game drought as his off-the-ball intensity faded, a pattern that repeated itself at Inverness Caledonian Thistle. More recently he has drifted through the English non-league, posting respectable returns at Solihull and Tamworth. Now he arrives at Spotland as a calculated gamble − one that may depend on whether competition with Dieseruvwe can keep him engaged beyond any initial surge.

Duku was joined at Spotland by left wing-back Bryant Bilongo on a 1.5-year deal from Bristol Rovers and Coventry City U21 captain Callum Perry, on an initial one-month loan.

Positionally, the pair feel very much like McNulty signings: versatile, option-heavy additions. Looking at the refreshed squad, Bilongo, Joe Pritchard and Tarryn Allarakhia can all operate at left wing-back; Perry and David Tutonda provide competition at left centre-back; while Pritchard also offers an option as a No. 10, as does Allarakhia, who impressed there before his AFCON sojourn.

Tom Myles was involved in a penalty shoot-out v Tamworth.

None of that, however, was put to the test at Tamworth. With none of the new arrivals featuring, or indeed announced at this point (and Duku was cup-tied into the bargain), Rochdale named an XI that spoke clearly to where the FA Trophy sat in McNulty’s list of priorities − some distance below the league campaign. Tom Myles started in goal behind a back three of David Tutonda, Liam Hogan and Dan Moss, with Bryce Hosannah and the returning Allarakhia operating as wing-backs. Casey Pettit and Jake Burger anchored the midfield, while Aidan Barlow and Tyler Smith supported Ian Henderson up front.

Tamworth, by contrast, treated the tie with greater seriousness, fielding a strong side that ultimately prevailed on penalties after a 1–1 draw in normal time. Dale had taken the lead before the interval through Smith’s very well-taken effort, but as the contest wore on the hosts’ greater cohesion began to tell. An equaliser in the final 20 minutes dragged the tie beyond 90 minutes and into a shootout.

Sudden death beckoned after the opening exchanges from the spot. When substitute Charlie Waller’s penalty struck the upright, the door was left ajar, and Matt Curley stepped through it, converting to send Tamworth into the fifth round and bring Dale’s Trophy interest to a quiet end.

Casey Pettit converts his penalty against Tamworth.

There was little time to linger on any disappointment that might have been felt at Tamworth. Just three days later, Rochdale were on the road and back to league business, heading to the north-east to face Gateshead. Pre-match confidence was understandably high: the Heed sat bottom of the National League and had already been dismantled by Dale in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign.

Yet, as so often in this division, context mattered. In the weeks leading up to the game Gateshead had acted, reappointing Rob Elliot as manager and reshaping their squad − changes that would be tested for the first time against Rochdale, and which threatened to render league position and past form largely irrelevant.

In the event, Dale’s return to league action was marked by a 2–0 success. On a chilly Saturday afternoon in the north-east, Jim McNulty’s side did what good sides do on the road – struck when on top, weathered a wobble, then finished the job.

The headline belonged to Manny Duku. Thrown straight in after arriving earlier in the week, the striker marked his debut with a goal that demonstrated sharp movement and an instinct for being in the right place at the right time. Just after the half-hour, Dale carved Gateshead open. A neat one-two between Kyron Gordon and Tobi Adebayo-Rowling created the angle for Gordon to slide Devante Rodney in behind. His delivery across the box was perfectly weighted and Duku, sliding in, did the rest.

Duku could – perhaps should – have doubled his tally minutes later. Ryan East’s high press forced the turnover and, after driving forward, he fed the debutant once more. This time former Dale loanee Tiernan Brooks was equal to it, but the chance underlined Dale’s superiority during a first half in which they broke with pace and purpose. At the interval, the sense was not just that Dale deserved their lead, but that they might regret not making it more emphatic.

Gateshead, to their credit, emerged with greater intent. Crosses began to rain into the area, testing Dale’s defensive shape. Former loanee Levi Amantchi came closest, his header crashing back off the bar, while Aidan Elliott-Wheeler skewed another opportunity wide. It was a reminder that one goal rarely settles anything, particularly away from home.

In the midst of this, Oliver Whatmuff’s return between the posts was significant. Calm to the point of serenity, he exuded an assurance that steadied those in front of him. Nothing was hurried, nothing looked awkward. If goalkeeping is often about temperament as much as technique, Whatmuff offered a masterclass in the former.

The decisive moment arrived late on and again it was crafted expertly. Adebayo-Rowling’s cross from the right missed Henderson but found East on the edge of the area and the midfielder made no mistake, slamming his finish into the near corner. It was a goal that cut through any lingering doubt and restored control.

The second half had lacked the fluency of the first and ball retention was not always convincing, allowing Gateshead more territory than McNulty would have liked. Yet defensively Dale were largely sound, if occasionally exposed by crosses – an area that will need tightening, particularly as new recruits learn the nuances of the system.

With pressure beginning to build down Dale’s left, the introduction of David Tutonda at left centre-back felt like astute game management, offering fresh legs and positional nous to help see the contest through.

There were reminders, too, that not all debuts arrive fully formed. Callum Perry, operating on the left of the back three and understandably short of match sharpness after limited recent game time, showed glimpses without quite settling into a rhythm. That McNulty was able to manage his minutes rather than expose him late on felt sensible, and Perry looks a player who will benefit quickly from regular football.

Bryant Bilongo, introduced later, also looked like a player still learning the structure, occasionally caught out of position but visibly receiving instruction from the bench.

There were plenty of encouraging individual notes. Jake Burger’s ability to carry the ball through midfield gave Dale a different dimension. Casey Pettit provided his now-familiar steadiness and looks increasingly like a starter waiting to happen, perhaps in a three or with East pushed wider as he was here in a second-half reshuffle. Duku, beyond the goal, showed enough movement and physical presence to suggest, with a little more ruthlessness, he can more than capably deputise for Mani Dieseruvwe, especially with Henderson’s intelligent running on offer as an alternative too.

In the end, this was not a performance to stir the soul, but it was one to please the pragmatist. A job done, points secured, debuts bedded in.

Duku celebrates with team-mates after opening his account.

What now lies ahead for Dale is a frenetic stretch that may go a long way towards defining their season. First comes a testing trip to a much-improved Solihull Moors, before the long-awaited return to Spotland to face strugglers Truro on newly laid turf. That is followed by the rearranged visit of Southend United, after the National League finally ruled that the original fixture should be replayed rather than allowed to stand.

Beyond that looms February, and what looks like the true examination of Dale’s promotion credentials: a daunting run against Boreham Wood, Carlisle United, Forest Green Rovers and Scunthorpe United in almost consecutive games. If Dale emerge from that run anywhere near the summit, they will have done very well indeed.

As always, thanks to The Voice of Spotland/Dan Youngs/Rochdale AFC for use of images.