Dale view of the game

Those Addicks who went to the Rochdale game thought that we played quite well, particularly in terms of passing. We did fail to take our chances and that perhaps reflects a team lacking confidence.

The view of the match taken by the Addickted who were there is confirmed by this report written for us by a Rochdale fan:

Super. Two teams going for it. One suffering from perhaps a little over anxiety and some wayward shooting at times, and coming up against a goalkeeper in superb form, the other benefiting from a great and slightly uncharacteristic strike from Jason Kennedy and a nice hook home for Craig Dawson, from a slightly fortunate corner.

The game reminded me somewhat of the game where we beat Huddersfield earlier in the season 3-0 despite being under the cosh for long periods. This was not quite as one sided, but Charlton made a host of great chances and fluffed them, and Owain Fon Williams made four superb saves, including two from substitute Paul Benson that were out of this world, and kept Dale 1-0 up. Dale played some superb football.

Chris Powell has not really given Rochdale any credit in his slightly blinkered post match comments but some of the passing Dale played on the night was first rate. They also defended like Trojans against what I have to say is a very good Charlton side. A fair result would have been a draw. I would go so far as to say in terms of entertainment value it is probably the best match I have seen this season, with the outcome in doubt right up to the last kick. When Benson came on and Charlton had ten to fifteen minutes of sustained pressure I could only see one outcome and that was an equaliser, But we held out and it didn't happen. Four wins on the bounce with four clean sheets. Am I dreaming?