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19 October 2013
If this were truly a "do or die" match for Paul Sanderson as the manager of Rochdale, he could have been placed in a much more forgiving scenario.
Rochdale were away to Cheltenham, the side who eliminated them from the King's Trophy last month. That match, decided on penalties, had been played at Spotland. Cheltenham were particularly tenacious on their own grounds, where they had played six matches without a loss: three wins, three draws.
Before the match, Paul reminded the players how good it would feel to exact some revenge on Cheltenham. This seemed to fire many of them up, and they played with energy and determination. At the half, the game remained scoreless, although Chelthenham was winning the possession battle, 55% to 45%, and had six shots to Rochdale's two.
On 55', Charlie Baird hit a high cross for Craig Thompson, who leaped and headed the ball powerfully past the keeper and into the goal, just inside the far post. The away supporters cheered wildly, and in his technical area, Paul Sanderson grinned and pumped his fist. If you looked closely enough, you could see his shoulders begin to relax.
But the match was far from over. Baird limped off with an injury on 72 minutes, and Paul replaced him with Lee Mason. He changed the Dale's shape from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1, moving Joe Webb from striker to Baird's spot on the right wing, and directing Mason to play an anchor man role in front of the back four.
There was no dramatic comeback for Chelmsford today. The final minutes passed without a shot rattling off the crossbar, and the only saves Stavros Molloy made all evening were routine ones. Thompson's single goal held, and Rochdale left the pitch with a 1-0 result.
Molloy shook Paul's hand, grinned, and simply said "Told you." The gaffer's job was probably safe, at least for now.
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