IT was a day from hell, if you happen to be from Bolton.
Five minutes before kick off at Spotland the news of Sam Allardyce’s departure as England manager filtered through to the masses of Wanderers fans who made the short trip. But worse was to come.
Rochdale had never beaten Wanderers in a league game. The two sides have existed for the most part at very different ends of the spectrum.
But here in League One, a goal from one of Phil Parkinson’s former charges, Steven Davies, consigned them to the most disappointing defeat since Bolton’s players trudged off the pitch last season, relegated from the Championship.
Barely two minutes had gone by when a break in play allowed the 3,500 travelling Bolton fans to burst into song, chanting the name of their former manager, Big Sam.
Allardyce might not be everyone’s cup of tea right now but it is clear there is still one town who regard him with massive affection.
Parkinson, the current incumbent of the Whites hot seat, enjoyed plenty of adulation at the start of the season too, but is now right in the midst of his first serious challenge.
By the second half the army of fans were chanting for their manager to “sort it out” and as another defeat entered into the books, that bright start is feeling more and more like a distant memory.
Sterile against Bradford and lacking any real ruthlessness in front of goal since Charlton halted that four-match winning run last month, Wanderers look in dire need of a jump-start. And the electric atmosphere generated by the travelling hordes should have been enough.
Buoyed by the noise pouring down from the entire right flank of the pitch, the pace of the game was instantly faster than anything we saw at the weekend. Unfortunately, the promise proved disappointingly brief.
Chris Taylor and James Henry hugged the touchline early on, giving the kind of width Wanderers fans have been crying out to see. And for a while, it worked.
Taylor went close when a right-footed effort clipped the heels of Joe Rafferty and looped up to force Josh Lillis into a save on his line.
Henry should have opened the scoring when the two wingers combined 20 minutes in – Taylor’s deep cross finding him completely unmarked yet somehow his side-footed volley ended up wide of the opposite post.
All that promise inexplicably started to fade midway through the half as Dale manoeuvred their way into the game.
It didn’t help that Wanderers started to concede cheap free kicks around their penalty box, which enabled the home side to keep them hemmed in.
Tom Thorpe, in for Mark Beevers who had been suffering from tonsillitis, made a few important contributions as the ball skidded around on a wet pitch. Likewise, David Wheater picked up where he left off against Bradford after shrugging off a calf problem.
For all their bluster, Mark Howard remained largely untested, though he watched nervously at one point as Calvin Andrew’s cross-shot landed just the right side of his post.
Wanderers briefly picked up again in the final few moments of the half. Jay Spearing drove a fierce effort from the edge of the area, well gathered by Lillis again, and Keshi Anderson flicked Henry’s cross wide of the post with the last attack.
It proved very much a false dawn. Rochdale once again forced the issue from the start and got their reward as Wheater’s block fell for sub Davies – one of Parkinson’s former Bantams stars, no less – to slam into the roof of the net from an acute angle.
It nearly got worse for the Whites too. Howard could only watch as Jamie Allen stooped to glance a header off the inside of his post before stifling Joe Thompson’s follow up.
Parkinson had seen enough and with the fans cheering ironically, Zach Clough and Sammy Ameobi were thrown on for Anderson and Taylor.
Even that didn’t prevent a slide which by that point was feeling embarrassing.
Howard flapped at a high ball from the left and only Thorpe’s excellent positioning on the line prevented Allen from slotting home.
Rochdale, tackling like lions, were forcing Wanderers to become more and more desperate.
Jamie Proctor and Lawrie Wilson – in for the injured Lewis Buxton – both got into decent positions but failed to produce from out wide. Henry also had a tame far-post effort parried when it looked easier to score.
Perhaps Henry deserved more luck in the final few minutes when his bouncing shot looped over the sprawling Lillis before being hacked to safety.
But when quality was needed late on, Wanderers were found desperately wanting once again. Only a last-ditch tackle from Wheater prevented Davies from breaking on to a ball from former Wanderers striker Sanmi Odelusi and by the end, you couldn’t argue that Dale deserved it.
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