Coca-Cola League Two

Rochdale 3 Aldershot Town 1

THAT there was some encouragement to be taken from a 3-1 defeat shows how rocky a road Aldershot are riding on their travels.

Or make that travails. This was The Shots’ sixth successive League Two defeat away from The Rec and seventh in all competitions.

They have not kept a clean sheet anywhere since at Accrington on the opening day of the season and their defence is the third worst in the division, conceding, on average, more than two goals a game. They are now down to 15th.

But while the team had been spineless against The Spireites of Chesterfield on Wednesday evening, here at least they were determined against The Dale.

Will Buckley’s injury-time goal, which extended Rochdale’s winning margin to 3-1, hid what might have been. John Grant had a goal ruled out for offside in the 89th minute, which would have made the score 2-2, tapping home after Ben Harding’s shot had been saved by Sam Russell.

Harding should have capped an improved performance by scoring in the first place and finished a glorious move with the goal and draw Aldershot’s spirited display in the final quarter just about deserved.

Instead, Gary Waddock and his squad were left to reflect on familiar failings: poor defending, which leads to shipping late goals and an inability to preserve what their earlier endeavour has achieved.

Aldershot had already fought back once after an insipid first half, riding their luck and then equalising through substitute Marvin Morgan.

For a brief period Rochdale were rocking and that Aldershot sensed victory was possibly their ultimate undoing. This inexperienced squad are still underestimating the value of a point. Perhaps Waddock, desperate to arrest the run of defeats, is too.

He had adjusted his team formation commendably during the game, bringing on Morgan to add attacking impetus from a goal down but, at 1-1, he could have introduced Ricky Newman from the bench and reverted to a more conservative approach for the last 20 minutes and protected being level against a fine side.

Instead, the game became increasingly open and Rochdale, who will push hard for the play-offs again on this showing, were able to introduce high quality from the bench in Adam Le Fondre and Buckley and Keith Hill’s men were fresh and smart enough to exploit the gaps.

Still, had Grant’s goal stood then Waddock’s positive tactics would have paid off. So, after shaking his team selection up, he was right to take positives on what, thankfully, was a vastly improved performance from the Chesterfield one.

“From that second half performance there are definite positives to take,” Waddock said after the game. “In the first half we didn’t get near them; I think some of the players were nervous after Wednesday.

“But we took the game to them in the second half and didn’t deserve that result. It was a big defeat in the midweek and the effort and play in the second half was encouraging. And there is a big ‘if’ over the offside too.”

Waddock made five changes in the wake of the Saltergate debacle. Dean Howell and Rob Elvins did not even make the squad. Anthony Charles and Louie Soares were moved to left and right back respectively and in came Rhys Day, Lewis Chalmers, Scott Donnelly, Kirk Hudson and Grant. Junior Osborne, Scott Davies and Newman dropped to the bench.

If the starting XI looked Aldershot’s normal 4-4-2 formation, it quickly became apparent that, as soon as Rochdale had possession, it was more 4-5-1, with Grant alone up front and Hudson and Danny Hylton dropping back to wide midfield. That left a solid central midfield three of Chalmers, Donnelly and Harding.

While The Shots offered next-to-nothing, apart from the odd promising burst from Hudson, going forward in the first half, they did largely frustrate Rochdale with their approach, although Nikki Bull had to make a fine save from Chris Dagnall in the 15th minute, after an error by Day.

Dagnall, the game’s outstanding player, was a constant menace, however, and just before the half hour he beat Charles to a weak lay-off from Hylton and spread the ball to Adam Rundle. His shot took a cruel deflection off Day and gave Bull no chance. When you are down, the luck is not with you; not only had there been the ricochet but Dagnall had possibly fouled Charles in the build-up.

After the break, however, Aldershot’s fortunes changed, which strengthened the belief that Morgan’s eventual equaliser was a wind of change.

First Dagnall turned on the halfway line and left The Shots in his wake — but his clever chip over Bull came back off the post. Then Dagnall blasted over Rundle’s cross from close range, before Dagnall went through again, his shot superbly tipped onto the bar by Bull. If Dagnall’s finishing had matched his superb approach play, then Rochdale would have been out of sight.

By then Waddock had brought on Davies and Morgan and changed formation to a 4-3-3 or even, at times, 4-2-4. The gamble paid off as Davies burst to the byline and his cross to the far post was met by Grant’s head. His angled effort was superbly saved by Sam Russell but presented Morgan with an easy stoop to head home.

Briefly, Aldershot were on top and Grant fizzed a shot just wide. Harding was enjoyed a titanic battle with Gary Jones for control of the midfield and the Aldershot man’s tracking back and tackling augurs well for the future.

But increasingly in the last 20 minutes, Rochdale came again. Rundle had given Soares a tough time at right back but his replacement, Buckley, was even better. Chris Blackburn looked to have fouled Buckley in the area but the Rochdale man stayed on his feet and the penalty appeals were waved away.

Jones then dragged a good chance wide before, a minute later, The Dale struck. Once again, Aldershot’s defences were being breached in the last ten minutes of a match.

It was a similar goal to the first at Macclesfield a fortnight before. Soares was exposed at right back and then the ball in was not closed down — Davies was the culprit this time. While Jones’ initial shot was superbly blocked on the line by Day, the rebound fell to Joe Thompson and he squeezed his shot home at the near post.

To their credit, The Shots did not lose their heads and battled manfully for another equaliser.

It was a surprise that Waddock did not go for broke and bring Junior Mendes off the bench. But the players he stuck with nearly came up trumps, as Hylton dummied Grant’s pass, which put Harding in the clear. He shot too close to Russell and Grant’s finish was ruled out.

It was especially tough on Grant, who has scored just once all season but looked back to his best in the second half, working hard, linking well with the midfield and making a few openings for himself.

"There were a few out there who did well and the whole team did well in the second half — but we got nothing for it," said Waddock.

“We have to start working as we did in the second half for both halves of matches. But we will come through this bad run. All teams have them and we will be stronger for it in the long run.”

Aldershot Town: Bull, Soares, Charles, Blackburn, Day, Chalmers (Davies 57), Hudson, Donnelly (Morgan 57), Grant, Hylton, Harding. Not used: Newman, Mendes, Osborne. Booked: Charles.

For more from Gary Waddock, plus news ahead of the visit of Port Vale, see Tuesday's Aldershot Mail.