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14 September 2013
Gemma Sanderson was eight years old, and she followed football closely enough to realize that when a club had a stretch of games against teams who were down toward the bottom of the table, it was time to gain some ground.
It was Gemma who pointed out to her daddy that, after drawing with Bristol Rovers, Rochdale had three matches against teams who were struggling just about as much as Rochdale were.
First, the Dale were away to Stenhousemuir. With Joe Webb moving up to forward and scoring twice, Rochdale sent them off 2-0.
Three days later, Rochdale went back up to Scotland, to the town of Galashiels to face Gala Fairydean Rovers. This time it was a brace from Craig Thompson, and another 2-0 result that put Rochdale far enough up the table to escape the relegation playoff spots.
And, tonight in Wales, Rochdale saw off Prestatyn Town, with Charlie Baird scoring a penalty in another 2-0 victory.
The nine points Rochdale secured from those three away fixtures catapulted them from second bottom up to 14th in the 22-team Royal First Division. Sanderson's club were far from the top, but at least they were also safely off the bottom.
Dave Gale had been unable to contribute much to his club's recent success. He was recovering from an injury to the cartilage in his knee, and was struggling to build his fitness. Left back Mike Staley was now sidelined, too; he hurt his hamstring against Gala Fairydean Rovers and was expected to miss about a month. Ger Dykes was periodically away on international duty with Ireland's U19 side, so Sanderson had to be creative with his player selections on the left side of the pitch. "I can play Lee Mason back there," he explained, "and I've been rotating Gale with Alan Foster in midfield. It's been working, so I don't suppose it's been too bad."
Gemma had been right. A chance to play some less potent opponents had been just what her daddy's club needed.
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