DPL vs Rochdale

Where do you begin? Out of the five goals four have to be contenders for goals of the season. That is to take nothing away from Marquis's second. You don't shoot - you don't score. May and Coppinger both scoring with headers? I wonder what sort of odds I could have got on that at 14.59. Wilks got MoM without scoring himself and you could see why - he was simply unplayable down the right wing. Towards the end as Crawford surged through Rochdale's midfield and defence my friend pointed out that no-one dare tackle him as they were all on cards for fouling Wilks. It was superb, not just in incisive attacking moves but because the pressing and defending were absolutely top notch. Dreamland.

Simply breathtaking today, the first half must have been our best first half performance since the 5-1 Southend semi final game.
Wilks was unplayable all game and fully deserved the MoM award.
The lad showed he has bags of talent as well as strength and speed.
Rochdale showed they have the capability to be a decent team but today they couldn’t live with us.

Excellent all round performance and game brilliant viewing and we played for 90mins rather than just 1 half!
This team are being built into a real force and it was a shame the ground weren't even half full. Hopefully we'll get more coming again and keep looking up the table, happy New year all 🍾🔴⚪🔴

Hound, perfectly put.

I'll have a word with Ali about his free kicks, needs to aim more for goal. Could of had a hat-trick of free kicks today, but, shaved the post on two occasions. 😀

Best first half performance I've seen at the KM that I can remember. 👏👏👏👏

Yep brilliant.
First half i could have any of our non defensive players mom.
Wilks i agree mom but whiteman was outstanding over the 90 mins.

How their number 6 was still on pitch at ht is a mystery to me.
Hound i just message a Dale fan friend of mine and said as you did really that they tried to play football but it just didn't happen for them today.
I thought their number 3 looked half decent

Thanks, lads, for all the comments; I made it by half-time and so saw the "lesser" half. Can't wait to see the extended highlights. I did not know until after the game that Wilks had resolved his contract issues - may be his performance was a result of relaxing after sorting out the problems.
From what I saw of Rochdale I was impressed they kept really trying and their heads did not drop. Our high press did open up some opportunities for them, but a good example of Rovers' resolute defence, and ability to recover, was Matty Blairs chase back and sliding tackle in the area. He had to get that right!
An impressive start to the New Year - we all could well be smiling in May. We have some difficult away games this year that may determine where we finish.
Onward and Upward!
By the way, my wife and I celebrated the start of 2019 with a bottle of Hattingley Valley Classic Reserve Brut from Hampshire, the first English Fizz to reach the Oregon market. Both of us thought it very good, but at Champagne prices it has to be.

Having been critical about the Gillingham performance I thought I had better watch the the first half in full so that I could compare the two.

It was quite surprising how the passing yesterday contrasted with that last Saturday and the accuracy must have been 50% better - around 80% at least. There was more composure, perhaps playing in more tight formations as well, which is less risky, so hugely improved. Marquis seemed much more in control in what he did too with less charging around which sometimes gets a bit aimless. May too, seemed to restrict his wild running and be more sensible in his movement.

Kane did over-indulge in fancy footwork and on one occasion must have beaten the same two defenders at least twice before finally losing the ball. Perhaps the Analyst or whatever he is called might draw his attention to this recent retrograde development in his game.

McCann has certainly developed a good League 1 team which very few would have predicted after all the talk of him being the cheap option; he also seems to have the knack of getting the players he wants. He is refreshingly positive - even SOD used to moan about the budget. So well done and with greater strength in January we can be very optimistic and having to tackle Portsmouth, Luton and Sunderland on their own soil we shall need all the power we can muster.

Having now seen the extended highlights I have only one negative comment to make and that is that the Rochdale goalkeeper should perhaps have done better on the two narrow-angle goals as well as with Marquis's second.

However we do seem to have bounced back from the Fleetwood mishap.

The latest results show that Portsmouth are often discomforted and they often seem to have to squeeze by lesser teams, but so far they have sustained their position. Sunderland do not score many goals and frequently draw games that you would expect them to win, but again they do not lose much and seem good defensively. Luton are the dangerous ones and Barnsley, by matching them at home, are also a reckonable force. Charlton cannot be ruled out and have been consistently good, but never outstanding. Peterborough look fragile and apart from the 4-0 at Accrington have seemed to be declining. We are the erratic lot. possibly better than any of the rest on our day, but liable to fail badly on occasions.

Most of the leading teams have sustained their positions, so to advance upwards we must now consolidate and the added strength from the January transfers and the return to the squad of Wright and Mason ought to further that objective.

The predictions included BVZ's Bonus points for score, scorer and result vs Gillingham - bold I'd say after 0-3 at Fleetwood, but blind faith is an asset of the true supporter.

Poor Alfie May had no backers vs Rochdale and anyone who had seen him at Gillingham might have wondered whether he had lost sight of the basic objective of the game seemingly to prefer to run wildly into opponents apparently trying to match the Marquis technique of throwing himself to the ground in the hope of getting free kicks. Anyway I must admit that he did seem contribute very much more usefully this time.

Mooli retains the lead and there must be special mention of Crazy's crowd forecast which was only 2 short.

Nookie continues to amuse and perhaps put in 6-0 as a form of humour, but it was so nearly right.

Finally, I read with interest Micky's expert comments on wine, something else in which I have a keen interest, but rather like my knowledge of football, my observations are rather amateurish and I think would have benefited had I been a customer of his. All I can say about English fizz is that although highly competitive in taste (to my palate) with a lot of Champagnes the taxes here make it very tough for the producers. For example you can get what tastes to me like decent real Champagne for as little as £12, way cheaper than the English versions which are often more expensive than some of the well-known French champagnes - it's a crazy market, so you have to be very keen on it to prefer it to the wide range of cheaper still whites and reds. Perhaps Brexit will change all that.

Gillingham 1: Rovers 3 (Marquis) 4791
………………..….Crowd Scorer Score Result Bonus Total Pts B/F Cumltve
Donaldo ………… 3 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 … 3 … 85 …….. 88
PDXMickey ……. 5 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 8 … 90 …….. 98
Yorks Lad ……... 2 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 2 … 87 …….. 89
BVZ. ……..…….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 3 …….. 3 …….. 10 …. 19 … 76 ….. 95
Crazy …….……… 5 …….. 3 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 11 … 106 …… 117
Uthred …….…… 3 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 3 … 92 …….. 95
Mooligan …..…. 2 …….. 3 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 8 … 113 …… 121
King Chmprr …. 3 …….. 3 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 6 … 73 …….. 79
Small Azza ……. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 0 …. 0 …….. 0
Stantonrover … 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 0 … 0 …….. 0
Azza ……..…..… 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 0 … 71 …….. 71
Cheltenham …. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 0 ….. 0 …….. 0
Nookie ……….… 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 0 … 105 …… 105
Selby …….……… 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 0 …. 36 …….. 36
Lanza …….….…. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 3 … 67 …….. 70
……………..……… 23 ……. 15 …….. 3 …… 12 …… 10 .. 63 .. 1001 …. 1064

Rovers 5 (May) : Rochdale 0 (7408)
………………..….Crowd Scorer Score Result Bonus Total Pts B/F Cumltve
Donaldo ………… 3 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 … 6 … 88 …….. 94
PDXMickey ……. 4 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 7 … 98 …….. 105
Yorks Lad ……... 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 3 … 89 …….. 92
BVZ. ……..…….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 3 … 95 …….. 98
Crazy …….……… 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 3 … 117 …… 120
Uthred …….…… 4 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 7 … 95 …….. 102
Mooligan …..…. 3 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 6 … 121 …… 127
King Chmprr …. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 0 … 79 …….. 79
Small Azza ……. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 0 …. 0 …….. 0
Stantonrover … 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 0 … 0 …….. 0
Azza ……..…..… 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 3 … 71 …….. 74
Cheltenham …. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …. 0 ….. 0 …….. 0
Nookie ……….… 1 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 4 … 105 …… 109
Selby …….……… 5 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 8 …. 36 …….. 44
Lanza …….….…. 0 …….. 0 …….. 0 …….. 3 …….. 0 …. 3 … 70 …….. 73
……………..……… 20 ……. 0 …….. 0 .…… 33 …….. 0 .. 53 .. 1064 …1117

Ah yes Whine and bubbles. Sounds like me in the bath!
A glut last year in France makes it cheap as chips here at the moment. Reasonable quality at M&S is now £15 a bottle. Then I get 25% off for buying 6 or more and Mrs N's 20% staff discount. You do the Maths. Chapeldown is Englands finest and as good if not better than most French offerings, but just too pricey at the moment.
I think we will be up for Preston a good test of how we compare to Championship clubs. The January signings also look interesting. Looking forward to this year, cheers🍾

Thanks, lads, for your comments on wine. I subscribe to Decanter, and get frustrated that there are many wines I cannot get here, and the great pricing in some stores, especially supermarkets. I've seen real Champagne at bargain prices, especially as compared with here. I only bought the English fizz to see what it was like, and it was being offered at 20% discount. I've had some while in England, but is the first I've bought over here. We drink a least one bottle of fizz a week, and usually it is a Cremant from somewhere in France - Alsace, Loire, Limoux, Bourgogne, etc. We both like rose fizz, and one relative bargain we like is Graham Beck's Rhona from South Africa. In January's Decanter it is the "Must Try Fizz" and is listed as 15 pounds at M & S. I am fortunate in being able to buy it wholesale for $12.60!