Town: David Button, Joe Skarz, Graham Coughlan (c), Terry Dunfield, Kelvin Langmead, Jamie Cureton (Jake Simpson 84), Jake Robinson, Benjamin van den Broek (Steve Leslie 72), Lewis Neal (Kris Bright 58), Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, Kevin McIntyre

Subs:, Paul Murray, Harry Hooman, Chris Neal, Tom Bradshaw

Rochdale: Frank Fielding, Scott Wiseman, Tom Kennedy, Nathan Stanton, Jason Kennedy, Gary Jones (c), Chris Dagnall, Kallum Higginbotham (Joe Thompson 60), Chris O'Grady, Rory McArdle, Jason Taylor

Subs: Kenny Arthur, Ciaran Toner, Andy Howarth, Tope Obadeyi, , Matt Flynn, Marcus Holness

Referee: Andy D'Urso (Essex)
Assistant Referee (yellow): S Cook
Assistant Referee (plain): A Hendley
Fourth Official: N Radford

Attendance: 6081 (704)

Paul Simpson makes three changes to the side which lost 3-0 away to Grimsby Town last weekend.Dave Hibbert is missing with a groin problem which rules him out for 3 to 4 weeks.Steve Leslie and Paul Murray drop to the bench with Shane Cansdell-Sherriff returning from suspension, Benjamin Van Den Broek makes his full Town debut and Jake Robinson returns to the starting line-up.

Rochdale were looking dangerous from the first whistle and they took the game straight to Town.The home side were doing well though to allow Rochdale the ball but put in the work to close and chase and stop them from getting into any really dangerous positions.Dale though did go close with just over 5 minutes on the clock after a misunderstanding in the Town defence, the ball was curled in and Langmead let it run for Button, he in turn let it run but the curl of the ball and the wind too the ball onto the post, it bounced back past Button but Langmead was there to hook the ball clear.

Benjamin Van Den Broek had started the game out on the right of the Town midfield and he was showing some good early touches.He picked the ball up and burst down the line, he continued to go and looked for support but elected to keep going, he cut inside Stanton before curling in an excellent shot that Fielding did well to tip over the bar.From the resulting corner the ball came back out to Van Den Broek but his first time show was wide of the target.

With 30 minutes on the clock it was still a game of cat and mouse with both sides looking to take the early advantage.Rochdale has seen more of the ball but for all their pressure both keepers had only had to make one decent save each.

Dave Button had been having a steady game as normal and had been dealing with what Dale could throw into his box.He did have to be at his best though when the ball was played in behind the Town defence to put Dagnall in, Button was down quickly to pull off a great save and then reacted superbly to get back up and wrap himself around O'Grady to smoother the rebound shot.

Dale nearly nicked a goal right on the stroke of half-time after Kev McIntyre gave away a free-kick about 30 yards from goal.Kennedy placed the ball and then curled over a dipping shot that hit the top of the bar and flew behind.

Half-time: 0-0

Town had been growing as an attacking force as the game wore on and they were staring to pressure the Dale goal.Balls were being played in behind the Dale defence and there were willing runners in Neal, Robinson and Van Den Broek.From one of these balls Van Den Broek did well to pressure and win a corner.The corner was delivered well and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff connected well with his header but the post was there to save Dale, the ball came back to Cansdell-Sherriff but his snap shot went into the side netting.

With just over an hour on the clock it was the visitors who took the lead after winning a free-kick outside the Town box that the home crowd didn't agree with.The ball was delivered with pace towards the back post and there was Joe Thompson climbing the highest to put a header back across the goal and make it 1-0 to the visitors.

With quarter of an hour of the game remaining it became a tougher test for Town when they were reduced to 10 men.The ball came to Shane Cansdell-Sherriff just inside the Town half, he took a touch and was then pressured by Dagnall, he tried to turn the Dale striker but slipped and this allowed Dagnall to sense a run in goal, but Cansdell-Sherriff pulled back Dagnall and withhim being the last man he made it an easy decision for ref D'Urso to produce a straight red card.

Even with only 10 men Town were still pushing and trying to get back into the game and there were getting some chances.The best of these came after a ball into Cureton saw him flick a lovely ball into the Robinson to allow him to break down the right hand side, he had Cureton and Bright as options to his left but he decided to continue his run into the box and shoot but all he won was a corner for Town.

With the game entering injury time Town were still showing the desire to get something from the game and a long throw into the box from Jake Simpson caused problems and won Town a corner.Leslie drove the ball intothe near post and there was Kris Bright with a diving header but he didn't connect cleanly and it went wide of the target.

Town: 0-1