[Greyfriars Bobby]

2 November 2013

Autumn had settled in to the foothills of the Pennines, and as November began, the top and bottom of the Royal First Division table were settling into place. At least that was true in Group A, the half of the division in which Rochdale were placed.

Rochdale played two league fixtures in four days in late October, playing promotion candidates Mansfield to a scoreless draw at home and winning 1-0 away to 15th place Wrexham on a late goal by Craig Thompson.

The Dale's perplexing pattern of better results away from their own grounds continued; they had compiled 16 of their 23 points in away fixtures, and were 1-4-4 at Spotland. "No wonder our supporters are a little disillusioned by that," Paul Sanderson said behind closed doors in his office one morning as he looked at that statistic.

Every point mattered to clubs who, like Rochdale, found themselves in the middle of the table, where the teams were tightly bunched.

Tonight, the club had a break from the league programme, traveling to Hereford for a British Cup match. This competition was open to every club in Britain, from the smallest minnows to the richest Premier League teams. Rochdale's opponent was in the Qualification Groups, the lowest tier of the British League System pyramid, but they were enjoying a good season and had high hopes of promotion to the Royal First by season's end.

The Cup tie gave Paul the chance to hand Rochdale debuts to several players who were not registered for League play, and he could do so without weakening his lineup in the least. Dave Hyland started at forward alongside Craig Thompson. Player-coach Dermot Doyle and young striker Robert Shillito were dressed and ready to go as substitutes. And, most exciting of all, Lars Nielsen was in the starting eleven, lining up at right back.

Nielsen quickly made his presence felt. Hereford took the lead on a Guy Green goal, but three minutes later, the Dane was the first to react when Hereford keeper Chris Baker pawed a Josh Moore shot back into the penalty area. Lars simply pushed the ball past Baker for the equalizer.

Just past the hour mark came one of those moments that cause a manager to pull his hair out. For the second time this season, David Jones conceded a penalty when he cut David Watson's feet out from under him in the area. Matt Nesbitt converted from the spot and Hereford were in front.

"David is an aggressive player," Sanderson said after the match. "That's part of his game, and part of the reason why he plays for his country. He's been letting his aggression get the better of him lately, though, and this is the second time it's cost us a goal. That can't keep happening."

Fortunately for Jones, his teammates bailed him out. Joe Webb and Alan Foster scored within three minutes of each other and Rochdale held on for the result. Both Doyle and Shillito got into the match, too. Doyle, a defensive midfielder, was a perfect choice when Paul went to a more defensive mentality. Shillito, too, was a good fit, since he was a more defensively responsible forward than Hyland.

"The board expects us to get to the Third Round, and that's exactly what we've done," said Sanderson as the team's bus rolled back toward Greater Manchester, taking a satisfying, come-from-behind result back with them.