1 March 2014
Rochdale's good form continued through the month of February, but they couldn't gain a spot in the standings and still stood ninth as March began. Meanwhile, a classic battle at the top of the table, which featured four clubs on 69 points and a fifth on 66, had Royal First Division fans paying close attention to every match.
"We've played some of the stronger clubs in the league," Paul Sanderson pointed out. "We were away to Chesterfield and Northampton, and we drew both times. In both matches, we came from behind to grab a point, and the players demonstrated a lot of resilience."
In both matches, Rochdale's opponent scored all their goals first, and the visitor came up with just as many goals as they needed to equalize. "That's thrilling from a supporter's standpoint, but I wish we didn't dig ourselves into such a hole before we start scoring goals," Paul said with a smile and a shake of his head.
The Dale's other match, home to Prestatyn, featured a hat trick by Steven Jackson in a 4-1 victory. Jackson was a perplexing figure. He seemed disinterested in team talks and demonstrated some complacency on the pitch, but his morale remained high, and he responded very positively when Sanderson complimented him on his outstanding form. "Steven is not an easy man to manage," the manager confided. "I gave him hell for a poor performance at half time in the Northampton match, and it got him fired up. Maybe he needs his manager to get in his face from time to time."
Dave Gale was close to being ready to play again, after twisting his ankle in the Cup match against Doncaster. His projected return to the first team was 8 March, when Rochdale would face Stoke City in the Sixth Round of the British Cup. Paul's old club, Everton, was out of the Cup, losing out in the Fifth Round to Merseyside rival Liverpool.
First, however, the Dale had a league match with Clyde, who sat in the relegation zone. "We'll have to rotate our squad for that one, but I think we'll have enough quality to see Clyde off," said an optimistic Sanderson. A run of eleven matches without a loss would tend to make a manager see the bright side of life.