Dale left it late to secure a superb victory at Altrincham with a winner a minute from time on Good Friday afternoon.
Sam Beckwith’s superb driving shot inside 20 minutes for his second league goal put Dale ahead after a dominant first half. Altrincham cancelled that out just shy of the hour mark before Devante Rodney stepped up on 89 minutes to give Dale all three points.
Dale head coach Jimmy McNulty named an unchanged side from Saturday’s victory with Devante Rodney making his 100th appearance in a Dale shirt.
Both sides took their time to grow into the game, with each having spells of possession.
Dale had the first real chance and it was taken as the ball reached Beckwith outside of the penalty area. The defender powered a low shot beyond Altrincham goalkeeper Caleb Ansen and into the bottom corner to give Dale the lead.
Aidan Barlow and Tarryn Allarakhia combined down Dale’s left, with the latter sending a shot narrowly over the bar.
Altrincham had a chance towards the end of the half as Callum Dolan dragged a shot well wide of the goal.
As half-time approached, Dale almost doubled their lead when Rodney turned his man inside out before having his shot blocked.
Ian Henderson headed against the bar following Allarakhia’s cross.
Henderson had the ball in the back of the net after Beckwith found him with a neat low crosss, but despite looking onside, the linesman flagged for offside.
Two minutes after the restart Barlow showed a great bit of flair, taking on multiple Altrincham defenders before releasing Rodney to his left, but Rodney’s shot kissed the outside of the post.
Henderson took down Kyron Gordon’s free-kick, before finding Rodney, who was denied by Ansen.
Alex Newby pounced on Beckwith’s slip and looked to be through on goal. Allarakhia did well in catching up with the forward but could not fully stop the cross. Barrett got down well to get a hand on the ball before collecting it to deny Linney a tap-in.
Just before the hour mark, Isaac Marriot equalised, he collected the ball on the edge of the box before finishing low and beyond the Dale goalkeeper after shooting through a body of players.
Harvey Gilmour and Newby sent shots over the bar for both sides.
Barrett made two fine saves towards the end of the game. First up, Linney managed to beat the Dale defence to an over-the-top ball and aimed low. Dale’s goalkeeper stood strong and made a fine stop to deny the number nine. Linney had a second late chance saved as he cut in on his right foot, looking to beat Barrett at his near post, but was denied once again.
Just a minute after that chance, and with 89 on the clock, Gilmour made a fine run from the halfway line before finding Rodney in the box. Rodney made no mistake and finished calmly into the back of the net, sending the travelling Dale supporters into hysterics.
Barrett was called into action again just moments after by Linney once more. Linney was played in down Altrincham’s left before driving towards goal at some pace. Barrett made himself big and made a great save to prevent a late Altrincham equaliser.
Dale held on and claimed all three points on an emotional day for the football club.
Dale XI | Barrett, Gordon (c), Ebanks-Landell, Allarakhia (84′ Armstrong), Gilmour, Rodney (90+2′ Ferguson), Adebayo-Rowling, Barlow, Edwards (45′ Weston), Beckwith (84′ Kingdon), Henderson (68′ Mitchell).
Unused subs | Adu-Poku, Ayinde.
Scorers | 20′ Beckwith, 89′ Rodney.
Altrincham XI | Ansen, Banks, Baines (c), Marriott (88′ Bickerstaff), Linney, Newby, Kosylo (71′ Reddin), Jones, Crawford (23′ Wilson), Golden, Dolan (67′ Osborne).
Unused subs | Randle, Powell, Penney.
Scorers | 58′ Marriott.
Attendance | 3464 (1036 visitors).
