Posh and Dale end the season with a 6 goal thriller!
| Date : | Sat 05 May 2007 | Kick Off : | 15:00 |
| Venue : | London Road | Attendence : | 6011 |
| Comp : | Coca-Cola League Two | Referee : | P Miller |
| (489 Rochdale fans) | |||
Posh: Boyd 22,26, Blanchett 54
Rochdale: Murray 11, Dagnall 63, 69
As another league season drew to a finale it wasnt as nail bitting as sum games neverless this game was a cracker with it being a goal fest that was evenly shared out. In front of a bumper crowd it was Murray who capitalised on a defensive blunder to give him 19 for the season and Chris Dagnall ended the season with a brace to claw Rochdale from 3-1 down and himself to finish up on 18 goals. George Boyd also grabbed a couple for the home side and on his full debut for Posh Daniel Blanchett also managed to hit the back of the net.
The start of this match was the type of end of season game that we were used to with both sides passing tha ball well but with no real urgancy or penatration. Then the game turned when a horror back pass wrong footed the debutant Posh keeper Shwan Jalal and that left an open goal for Glenn Murray to fire in probably the easiest of all his 19 goals this season. After that Rochdale had a good spell of possession but never created any more real clear cut chances. Peterborough then went on to score against the run of play when a ball was chipped to the back post. Rochdale goalkeeper Matt Gilks started to come then went back before the ball was looped over his head by a header from former Stevenage player George Boyd. Boyd was then on hand to head in Peterborough's second, Posh took a short corner as Rochdale's defence went to sleep. The ball was whipped in with pace and Boyd's header looped to the far post once again to beat the stranded Rochdale keeper Matt Gilks. With Rochdale now 2-1 down they came back into the game and hit the bar twice just before the interval. First Glenn Murray hit a fierce 25 yard drive against the bar after Joe Thompson did well to lay him off. Then right on the stroke of half time Rundle slipped in round the back and hammerd the cross bar which ratteled throughout half time.
Rochdale came out for the second half maybe feeling they should have been level but it was Posh who came out with a bang and less than 10 minutes into the half Blanchett hammerd home on the left and it seemed that was game set and match but nobody told Chris Dagnall that. It was just after the hour mark that he was played in by Joe Thompson, Dagnall set himself and powered the ball past the Posh keeper who had done well up to that point other than the blunder in the first half. Rochdale now had some momentum and made it count when just six minutes later Dagnall span inside the area and once again powered the ball past the bemused Jalal. With it 3-3 Rochdale seemed the more likely team to go on and win it and Jalal then made a number of world class saves. Dodds on as sub was denied when he raced through one on one. Tom Bates curled a left footed strike but Jalal got down well to parry it away, but the best chance fell with minutes to go to Glenn Murray. He had a great chance to grab his 20th of the season but as he rushed behind the Posh defence he curled wide. He had to much time maybe that was a bad influence but he still should have scored. Deep into stopage time Matt Gilks had to be on his toes and save a shot hit straight at him. The whistle rang round London Road and it was the end to a rememerable game and a great season but it was all spoiled by the actions of certain Posh 'fans'. The end of season pitch invasion commenced despite many warnings from the club before and during the game. Glenn Poole who was out on the left hand side of the pitch was set upon and fell to the ground after two hits to his face. Goodall also recieved sum verbal exchanges but David Perkins charged round the pitch to catch the offender and him and David Flitcroft handed the thug to the local police. Everything finally calmed down and the players took to the pitch to thank the fans. It was a great game and a fantastic way to end the season but unfortunatly it will be remembered by the antics at the end.
Player Ratings
| Matthew Gilks | 7 |
| Simon Ramsden | 7 |
| Rory McArdle | 7 |
| Alan Goodall | 7 |
| Gary Brown | 8 |
| DAVID PERKINS | 9 |
| Joe Thompson | 7 |
| Adam Rundle | 8 |
| Lee Crooks | 8 |
| Chris Dagnall | 9 |
| Glenn Murray | 8 |
| Subs | |
| Glenn Poole | 7 |
| Louis Dodds | 7 |
| Tom Bates | 7 |
Man Of The Match
Fantastic performance by David Perkins again. It was harsh not to give it to Chris Dagnall who scored two very good goals but it was another tireless performance by a terrific player. What a find he has been and who knows how much better he can get.
Match Stats
Peterborough |
Rochdale |
|||||
ATTEMPTS |
13 |
ATTEMPTS |
13 |
|||
ON TARGET |
11 |
ON TARGET |
8 |
|||
FREEKICKS |
8 |
FREEKICKS |
15 |
|||
CORNERS |
6 |
|
CORNERS |
1 |
||
OFFSIDE |
7 |
OFFSIDE |
1 |
|||
YELLOW CARDS |
0 |
YELLOW CARDS |
0 |
|||
RED CARDS |
0 |
RED CARDS |
0 |
|||
POSSESSION |
52% |
POSSESSION |
48% |
|||
