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Dale slip to home defeat
31/ 8/2002
ROCHDALE crashed to a disappointing defeat at Spotland at the hands of Southend United.
The visitors took the lead on 36 minutes when a long ball down field was misjudged by Steve Macauley and his back-header fell short of keeper Neil Edwards allowing Mark Rawle to nip in and score.
Either side of the break Rochdale produced their best spell with Clive Platt forcing a save out of keeper Aaron Flahavan with a header, Paul Simpson seeing his free kick tipped away and not long after the player-boss was unlucky when his shot from the edge of the box after more good work hit the inside of the post.
Struggling to create anything in midfield, Simpson gave a debut from the bench to former Manchester City schemer Ian Bishop and though he produced his trade-mark passes Rochdale were making little impression on a resolute Southend rearguard.
With the home side increasingly desperate for an equaliser Southend broke away on 77 minutes and Edwards did brilliantly to keep out a Leon Cort volley but it was the visitors who scored again some five minutes later.
The home defence failed to deal with a corner and Tes Bramble fired home from close range. Just a minute later Dale gave their fans some hope when Gareth Griffiths headed home a Simpson corner but it proved too little too late.
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