Rochdale battled to a deserved victory over league leaders Burton Albion at Spotland thanks to first half goals from Callum Camps and Ian Henderson. Dale took an early lead when Camps fired home from 25 yards before a Henderson penalty doubled the lead. Lucas Akins did reduce the deficit when he chipped home keeper Josh Lillis but Dale hung on to record their first ever win over Burton and move up to 14th.
Keith Hill made four changes from the team that were thrashed at Barnsley last weekend, including a debut start for new signing David Syers. Both teams started poorly, seeming to struggle with the difficult weather conditions at Spotland. However Dale did start to improve and it wasn't long before they took the lead. Jamie Allen found Camps with plenty of space, and the Northern Ireland U'21 midfielder took a touch before unleashing a shot which flew past Burton keeper Jon McLaughlin into the top corner. The goal renewed a little confidence into Dale and they began to string several passes together and put Burton's usually solid defence under pressure. Burton simply failed to deal with Dale's early intensity as they lost the ball on numerous occasions, and didn't really look to offer any attacking threat in the early stages. Burton's shaky defence was once again their downfall as Dale doubled the lead. Tom Kennedy, who replaced Michael Rose at left back, played an enterprising ball through for Henderson and the forward beat Burton captain John Mousinho to the ball before being hauled down inside the area by the centre half. Henderson dusted himself down before stepping up to take the penalty, and he sent the keeper the wrong way to score his 11th goal of the season. Burton, who had been unbeaten on the road since November, looked shocked to be 2-0 down so early in the game, and they never really recovered. Henderson threatened to add a third goal before half time when a neat one-two with Syers allowed him to find space inside the area but his shot was blocked. Syers and Henderson once again combined when the midfielder's flick on found Dale's top scorer, who touched the ball past Damien McCrory but was forced wide and his chipped attempt did really threaten. Burton started to push for a way back into the game and they thought they had found one when Anthony O'Connor headed in after Mark Duffy turned Dale right back Joe Rafferty inside out with his slick dribbling before crossing for the midfielder, but the goal was rightly ruled out for offside.
Burton boss Nigel Clough will have been far from happy with his team's lacklustre first half display, and he demonstrated this by bringing on striker Timmy Thiele at half time to try and improve his side's attacking threat. However, for the most part Dale's centre back partnership of Olly Lancashire and Jim McNulty were able to deal with the big striker. The change also freed up some space in the midfield for Dale, and it wasn't long after the second half started before Dale nearly added what would have been a killer goal. Henderson linked up with Jamie Allen on the left-hand side before Allen hit a swerving shot which deflected off McLaughlin, but luckily for the Burton stopper, it dropped just over the crossbar. Dale looked the more likely to score the next goal and Camps perhaps should have provided it when the ball broke to him from a corner, but he poked his shot wide. Ex-Dale man Phil Edwards later had a header cleared off the line by Lancashire as the side top of league one started to show some improvement. Burton's Mark Duffy and Lucas Akins were the only Burton players to really impress, Duffy with his excellent dribbling and movement and Akins with his pace and power, something which caused Dale all sorts of problems when they visited the Pirelli Stadium earlier in the season. Yet Akins demonstrated a more delicate approach when he managed to grab the away side a consolation goal. A long ball forward caused havoc in the Dale defence and Akins capitalised on Lillis' uncertainty to get to the ball first and chip the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net. This was a poor goal for Dale to concede as despite controlling the majority of the game, Burton suddenly had their tails up and were looking for an equaliser. However the goal came a little too late for Burton and they switched to hoofing the ball long in the late stages but Dale's defence did brilliantly to deal with the long balls forwards despite the strong winds that would have made them even harder to deal with. Henderson put in a brilliant shift up front, constantly putting the Burton defenders under pressure with his seemingly non-stop running. Burton did have one late chance to snatch an equaliser when Lillis' punched clearance fell to Tom Naylor, but he volleyed way over the bar and Dale hung on to take all three points. Credit must go to Keith Hill for making the necessary changes after last week's performance at Barnsley, and a win over the league leaders is hopefully just what some fans needed to start believing in the side again.
Full Time: Rochdale 2-1 Burton Albion
Man of the Match: Ian Henderson
Keith Hill made four changes from the team that were thrashed at Barnsley last weekend, including a debut start for new signing David Syers. Both teams started poorly, seeming to struggle with the difficult weather conditions at Spotland. However Dale did start to improve and it wasn't long before they took the lead. Jamie Allen found Camps with plenty of space, and the Northern Ireland U'21 midfielder took a touch before unleashing a shot which flew past Burton keeper Jon McLaughlin into the top corner. The goal renewed a little confidence into Dale and they began to string several passes together and put Burton's usually solid defence under pressure. Burton simply failed to deal with Dale's early intensity as they lost the ball on numerous occasions, and didn't really look to offer any attacking threat in the early stages. Burton's shaky defence was once again their downfall as Dale doubled the lead. Tom Kennedy, who replaced Michael Rose at left back, played an enterprising ball through for Henderson and the forward beat Burton captain John Mousinho to the ball before being hauled down inside the area by the centre half. Henderson dusted himself down before stepping up to take the penalty, and he sent the keeper the wrong way to score his 11th goal of the season. Burton, who had been unbeaten on the road since November, looked shocked to be 2-0 down so early in the game, and they never really recovered. Henderson threatened to add a third goal before half time when a neat one-two with Syers allowed him to find space inside the area but his shot was blocked. Syers and Henderson once again combined when the midfielder's flick on found Dale's top scorer, who touched the ball past Damien McCrory but was forced wide and his chipped attempt did really threaten. Burton started to push for a way back into the game and they thought they had found one when Anthony O'Connor headed in after Mark Duffy turned Dale right back Joe Rafferty inside out with his slick dribbling before crossing for the midfielder, but the goal was rightly ruled out for offside.
Burton boss Nigel Clough will have been far from happy with his team's lacklustre first half display, and he demonstrated this by bringing on striker Timmy Thiele at half time to try and improve his side's attacking threat. However, for the most part Dale's centre back partnership of Olly Lancashire and Jim McNulty were able to deal with the big striker. The change also freed up some space in the midfield for Dale, and it wasn't long after the second half started before Dale nearly added what would have been a killer goal. Henderson linked up with Jamie Allen on the left-hand side before Allen hit a swerving shot which deflected off McLaughlin, but luckily for the Burton stopper, it dropped just over the crossbar. Dale looked the more likely to score the next goal and Camps perhaps should have provided it when the ball broke to him from a corner, but he poked his shot wide. Ex-Dale man Phil Edwards later had a header cleared off the line by Lancashire as the side top of league one started to show some improvement. Burton's Mark Duffy and Lucas Akins were the only Burton players to really impress, Duffy with his excellent dribbling and movement and Akins with his pace and power, something which caused Dale all sorts of problems when they visited the Pirelli Stadium earlier in the season. Yet Akins demonstrated a more delicate approach when he managed to grab the away side a consolation goal. A long ball forward caused havoc in the Dale defence and Akins capitalised on Lillis' uncertainty to get to the ball first and chip the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net. This was a poor goal for Dale to concede as despite controlling the majority of the game, Burton suddenly had their tails up and were looking for an equaliser. However the goal came a little too late for Burton and they switched to hoofing the ball long in the late stages but Dale's defence did brilliantly to deal with the long balls forwards despite the strong winds that would have made them even harder to deal with. Henderson put in a brilliant shift up front, constantly putting the Burton defenders under pressure with his seemingly non-stop running. Burton did have one late chance to snatch an equaliser when Lillis' punched clearance fell to Tom Naylor, but he volleyed way over the bar and Dale hung on to take all three points. Credit must go to Keith Hill for making the necessary changes after last week's performance at Barnsley, and a win over the league leaders is hopefully just what some fans needed to start believing in the side again.
Full Time: Rochdale 2-1 Burton Albion
Man of the Match: Ian Henderson