Rochdale 0

 

Wrexham 0

 

Saturday 01 December 2007

 

Kick Off @ 15:00

Wrexham
Starting XI:
01 Anthony Williams
31 Wes Baines
05 Steve Evans
04 Shaun Pejic
06 Richard Hope
25 Neil Taylor
29 Sam Aitken
09 Neil Roberts
11 Chris Llewellyn
14 Matty Done 81'
10 Michael Proctor 70'
Substitutes:
13 Michael Jones (GK)
14 Eifion Williams
17 Josh Johnson 81'
21 Marc Williams 70'
26 Robbie Garrett
Stats:
8 Shots on Goal
4 Shots on Target
4 Shots off Target
47% Possession
12 Fouls Conceded
3 Corners
2 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Rochdale
Starting XI:
21 Sam Russell
02 Simon Ramsden
31 Marcus Holness
04 Nathan Stanton
03 Thomas Kennedy
18 Kallum Higginbotham
08 Gary Jones
16 David Perkins 63'
11 Adam Rundle 59'
10 Adam Le Fondre
19 Lee McEvilly 71'
Substitutes:
01 James Spencer (GK)
05 John Doolan 63'
17 Glen Murray 59'
23 Rory McArdle
27 Rory Predergast 71'
Stats:
14 Shots on Goal
8 Shots on Target
6 Shots off Target
53% Possession
11 Fouls Conceded
13 Corners
2 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Match Notes
Venue: Spotland
Attendance: 2,808
Half Time: Rochdale 0 Wrexham 0
Referee: Mark Haywood

Match Incidents
21' Kallum Higginbotham (Roch)
40' Neil Taylor (Wrexham)
56' Wes Baynes (Wrexham)
67' Glenn Murray (Rochdale)

Match Reports

WSA: Final Whistle Podcast

BBC: Rochdale 0-0 Wrexham

Rochdale AFC: Dale 0 Wrexham 0

TEAMtalk: Dragons hold Dale to stalemate

Wales on Sunday: Rochdale 0 Wrexham 0

Wrexham FC: Rochdale 0 Wrexham 0

Wrexham MAD: Rochdale 0 Wrexham 0

League Two Results
Rochdale 0 Wrexham 0
Shrewsbury 2 Macclesfield 0

League Two Table
    PLD GD PTS
1 MK Dons 17 17 35
2 Darlington 17 16 33
3 Rotherham 17 9 33
4 Hereford 17 14 32
5 Peterborough 17 14 31
6 Chesterfield 16 13 30
7 Chester 17 7 29
8 Wycombe 17 4 26
9 Shrewsbury 18 -1 25
10 Barnet 17 0 24
11 Morecambe 17 0 24
12 Bury 17 2 23
13 Accrington 17 -3 23
14 Rochdale 16 -1 22
15 Macclesfield 18 -6 21
16 Stockport 17 -6 20
17 Bradford 17 -4 19
18 Brentford 17 -13 19
19 Notts County 17 -7 18
20 Grimsby 17 -9 14
21 Dag & Red 17 -16 14
22 Mansfield 16 -4 12
23 Wrexham 16 -12 12
24 Lincoln City 17 -14 12

Next Five Games

Tue 04 Dec: Bury (a) 19:45

Sat 08 Dec: Dagenham (a) 15:00

Sat 15 Dec: Brentford (h) 15:00

Sat 22 Dec: Rotherham (a) 15:00

Wed 26 Dec: Rochdale (h) 15:00

Match Report
Brian Little set his side out to pick up a point from the visit to Rochdale and it was a case of a job well done following this drab goalless encounter at Spotland.

Rochdale dominated proceedings with Wrexham allowing the home side plenty of time on the ball but the back five held firm with Steve Evans delivering a man of the match performance.

The only time we had a decent spell was at the start of the second half but our final ball was rushed and Sam Russell in the Rochdale goal had a comfortable afternoon.

Rochdale failed to create many chances themselves with a brilliant touch from Adam Le Fondre set himself up in the first half and he went even closer in the second half with a superb chip that rebounded back off the woodwork.

Brian Little made one change from the home draw against Chester last weekend with Matty Done replacing Eifion Williams and this meant a change in formation to 4-5-1 with Michael Proctor having a frustrating afternoon on his own up front.

The Wrexham defence had to be alert from the first whistle as Rochdale forced four early corners as the home side upped the pressure on the Wrexham defence.

The main threat came from Rochdale’s midfielder David Perkins who always found time and space on the ball, and he was dictating play in the opening stages of the game.

Rochdale did have to wait until the 26th minute for their best chance in the game as Wrexham failed to cut out a low ball in from the left that Le Fondre, who scored four in one game against us whilst playing for Stockport last season, controlled brilliantly but he was off target with his left footed shot on the turn.

Our only meaningful effort came with eight minutes of the half remaining when the Rochdale midfield failed to intercept a pass from Wes Baines and this allowed Michael Proctor to advance to the edge of the area.

Proctor laid the ball off into the path of Matty Done but his shot from the edge of the area lacked any power and Sam Russell made a comfortable save.

There were no changes during the half time break from both teams but it was Wrexham who started with more purpose and the opening ten minutes ended up being our best spell in the game.

For the first time in the game, Wrexham were enjoying more possession in Rochdale’s half but our final ball was rushed and we therefore failed to pose any threat on the Rochdale goal.

But with chances few and far between in what was a poor game of football, it was Rochdale who almost opened the scoring midway through the second half.

A mistake by Shaun Pejic almost proved costly when his clearance was intercepted by Le Fodnre who went on to deliver a superb chip from twenty five yards and Anthony Williams was just a spectator in the Wrexham goal as the ball rebounded off the woodwork and Baines hacked clear.

The best Wrexham could offer in response was a long range shot from Matty Done that Russell could only parry in the Rochdale goal but his defenders were on hand to clear the danger.

You always fearful of the threat from former players but Lee McEvilly rarely threatened for Rochdale with his only shot going high and wide before he was replaced with 20 minutes left.

The introduction of Marc Williams and later Josh Johnson for Michael Proctor and Matty Done respectively added nothing to our attacking play, as Rochdale continued to enjoy the better of the possession but rarely threatened our goal.

Wrexham tired off in the final ten minutes and a superb save from Anthony Williams was required to keep the game goalless.

For the first time in the game, Wrexham failed to pick up from a Rochdale corner and Williams was at full stretch to tip a Marcus Holness back post header behind for a corner.

Williams was required once more to claim a cross from Glenn Murray but Rochdale had no answer to our well organised defence and the point sees us climb one place off the bottom on goal difference.

It wasn’t pretty, we cannot afford to be in our predicament but you can see the marked improvement in our defensive play since Brian Little has been working with the same players on the training ground.

Match Reaction
Brian Little: "We have worked at a couple of systems over the last week or two, to make ourselves a little hard to beat. And in that respect to go away an get a 0-0 draw is the sort of start we are looking for, although I would like to improve our play and get a win. There was a little spell in the second half when we looked better, but then we tried to rush things in the final third, because we weren't there very often. We thought we had to cross the ball and try and score, which really wasn't the case. As a unit it is important that we become harder to play against and we have certainly done that today, which I'm pleased about. It's not over expansive football, I have to say, but my job initially is to look at the players and try to find a system that suits us. We tried to play a little bit wider than we actually did today. I hoped we could have got the ball out wide, but it didn't work as I hoped it might, although our two wing backs came into the game late on." [Source: Wrexham AFC - click here for more]

Keith Hill: "Wrexham didn't go anywhere and just camped on the edge of the box with a solid back five, it is very frustrating. I can't control what the opposition does, but if I was a football supporter I wouldn't watch that type of game. We try to play in the right manner and I am not going to be a member of the 'get it in the box' brigade. Wrexham's tactics were negative, but you probably have to commend them for the way that they did defend. We fully understand why Wrexham did it, but in similar situation last season we did not use tactics like that." [Source: Wrexham AFC - click here for more]