Hill hails battling Rochdale after Blackpool triumph

Posted Thursday, December 27, 2018 by PA

Keith Hill praised the resilience of his Rochdale side after Ian Henderson’s 89th-minute strike gave them a 2-1 win against 10-man Blackpool.

A fine display from Seasiders goalkeeper Mark Howard appeared to have frustrated the home side after Michael Nottingham cancelled out Ollie Rathbone’s opener.

But Henderson’s cool finish gave Dale back-to-back League One wins for the first time this season.

“Perseverance is one of the values of life’s successes,” said Hill. “You have to keep continuing the journey, there are bumps along the way in a 46-game season but I am pleased with this result.

“It gives us that fillip of back-to-back wins and breaking 30 points. We were well into March when we broke that barrier last season, so from that perspective I think it gives the players confidence.

“The players were patient and I thought their goalkeeper was outstanding. It was an even game but the sending-off affected their tactics and gave us more possession than Blackpool would have allowed us.

“It was a difficult game – it can become trench warfare and we’ve been done before when we’ve been given the ball by a lack of concentration but I thought we dealt well with Blackpool’s tactics in the second half.”

Dale edged ahead in the 19th minute when Rathbone rifled home after Matty Gillam’s initial shot was parried by Howard.

Jordan Thompson struck the foot of the post with a shot before the Blackpool man was sent off on the half-hour for reacting to Callum Camps’ challenge.

But Terry McPhillips’ men drew level on 35 minutes when Armand Gnanduillet raced forward and teed up Nottingham.

It was one-way traffic after the break, with Dale piling pressure on the Blackpool back-line and Howard did brilliantly to deny Camps and Matt Done.

It appeared he had done enough to take a share of the spoils until Henderson collected Brad Inman’s pass and stroked home a neat finish.

“It was cruel but that’s football and you don’t always get what you deserve,” said McPhillips. “I thought we deserved a draw.

“I thought the referee had a decent game in all but the crucial decisions. I felt we should have had a penalty for a foul by their keeper on Armand Gnanduillet. That was majorly disappointing.

“Jordan shouldn’t have done what he’s done , he shouldn’t react and he’s got to learn from that. It has cost us today. He’s a good player so he is going to get kicked and we’ve watched it back on the DVD and he gets stamped on. The ref booked him, so I just can’t understand why they haven’t both been sent off.

“And when I looked at the goal at the end, the winning goal, I thought it was offside. It was as close as close can be.”