Rochdale recorded a comfortable win over Keith Hill's former side Barnsley today as goals from Calvin Andrew, Peter Vincenti and Ian Henderson earned them a 3-0 victory. Dale took the lead when Andrew found space on the edge of the box, where he struck a sweet strike that proved too powerful for away keeper Adam Davies. The lead was doubled when Davies misjudged Donal McDermott's corner, leaving Peter Vincenti with a simple header into an empty net and Ian Henderson finished the game off in the second half as he dinked the ball over the Barnsley keeper after Jamie Allen slipped him through.
Keith Hill made two changes from the team that lost at Hull in the week, re-introducing Donal McDermott and Oliver Lancashire to the starting line up in place of Reuben Noble-Lazarus and Ashley Eastham. Dale started brightly and their early dominance paid off when they took the lead with just 8 minutes gone. McDermott showed his usual resilience to find a way through the Barnsley defence and when he was finally brought to a halt, the ball fell to Calvin Andrew who's fierce rising shot flew into the roof of the net, despite Davies best efforts to keep the ball out. After Dale took the lead Barnsley began to come back into the game, with Kadeem Harris causing Tom Kennedy problems with his pace and skill down the right hand side. However, Barnsley's passing was slack and they gave the ball away on numerous occasions, most notably when Peter Vincenti won the ball back and found Henderson but his curled attempt went just wide of the post. Dale were passing the ball beautifully at times and Calvin Andrew was involved in a lot of Dale's forages forward. Andrew chested or headed the ball down for onrushing attackers on numerous occasions, in a way that was reminiscent of Chris O'Grady, who became somewhat of a Dale legend when he played for the club between 2009-2011. Dale's excellence was rewarded when Peter Vincenti made it 2-0 before half time when he scored his first goal of the season, heading home from Donal McDermott's delivery to the back post from a corner.
Barnsley's disappointing first half encouraged away manager Lee Johnson to make two changes at the break but the away side looked tired after their cup exploits against Everton in midweek, where they lost 5-3 after extra time, but they never really troubled Dale's defence. Calvin Andrew had a great chance to extend the lead when his first time shot from Henderson's cut back was saved well by Davies. Donal McDermott also could have got on the scoresheet when Davies flapped at a cross and was left on the floor, but he got up quickly to prevent McDermott's goal-bound effort. Dale finally got their 3rd when Jamie Allen showed great tenacity to win the ball back from the significantly larger Connor Hourihane before slipping through Ian Henderson, who had timed his run forward to perfection. Henderson's 22 league goals had attracted interest from today's visitors earlier in the transfer window but their reported £100k bid was deemed to be way too low by Dale and Henderson would have been glad to show his true value today, as his clipped finish found the bottom corner and sealed the win for Dale. Josh Lillis did have one save to make from Ben Pearson's effort, but Dale's defence provided excellent cover once again, recording their 4th clean sheet of the season in the process. Dale had chances to extend their lead further but will be delighted to find themselves in the top 6 with 5 games now played.
Full Time Rochdale 3-0 Barnsley
Man of the Match: Calvin Andrew
Keith Hill made two changes from the team that lost at Hull in the week, re-introducing Donal McDermott and Oliver Lancashire to the starting line up in place of Reuben Noble-Lazarus and Ashley Eastham. Dale started brightly and their early dominance paid off when they took the lead with just 8 minutes gone. McDermott showed his usual resilience to find a way through the Barnsley defence and when he was finally brought to a halt, the ball fell to Calvin Andrew who's fierce rising shot flew into the roof of the net, despite Davies best efforts to keep the ball out. After Dale took the lead Barnsley began to come back into the game, with Kadeem Harris causing Tom Kennedy problems with his pace and skill down the right hand side. However, Barnsley's passing was slack and they gave the ball away on numerous occasions, most notably when Peter Vincenti won the ball back and found Henderson but his curled attempt went just wide of the post. Dale were passing the ball beautifully at times and Calvin Andrew was involved in a lot of Dale's forages forward. Andrew chested or headed the ball down for onrushing attackers on numerous occasions, in a way that was reminiscent of Chris O'Grady, who became somewhat of a Dale legend when he played for the club between 2009-2011. Dale's excellence was rewarded when Peter Vincenti made it 2-0 before half time when he scored his first goal of the season, heading home from Donal McDermott's delivery to the back post from a corner.
Barnsley's disappointing first half encouraged away manager Lee Johnson to make two changes at the break but the away side looked tired after their cup exploits against Everton in midweek, where they lost 5-3 after extra time, but they never really troubled Dale's defence. Calvin Andrew had a great chance to extend the lead when his first time shot from Henderson's cut back was saved well by Davies. Donal McDermott also could have got on the scoresheet when Davies flapped at a cross and was left on the floor, but he got up quickly to prevent McDermott's goal-bound effort. Dale finally got their 3rd when Jamie Allen showed great tenacity to win the ball back from the significantly larger Connor Hourihane before slipping through Ian Henderson, who had timed his run forward to perfection. Henderson's 22 league goals had attracted interest from today's visitors earlier in the transfer window but their reported £100k bid was deemed to be way too low by Dale and Henderson would have been glad to show his true value today, as his clipped finish found the bottom corner and sealed the win for Dale. Josh Lillis did have one save to make from Ben Pearson's effort, but Dale's defence provided excellent cover once again, recording their 4th clean sheet of the season in the process. Dale had chances to extend their lead further but will be delighted to find themselves in the top 6 with 5 games now played.
Full Time Rochdale 3-0 Barnsley
Man of the Match: Calvin Andrew