Rochdale 2-0 Peterborough United Six Things: Hill’s happy 500

Happy day for Hilly – manchestereveningnews.co.uk

In Keith Hill’s 500th match in charge of Rochdale, his side deservedly beat Peterborough United 2-0 on Saturday afternoon thanks to goals from Calvin Andrew and Callum Camps. Here’s six things from the game.

Few early chances

It was an even first half hour with chances at a premium. Rochdale had the territorial advantages due to the selfless hold-up play of Calvin Andrew and Jordan Slew, who replaced the injured Matt Done early on. They often needed to wait for full-backs Joe Rafferty and Joe Bunney to provide pace, with the former crossing for the latter, who couldn’t make the right contact with his back-post effort on 12 minutes.

Disjointed Peterborough

Bunney’s attacking runs though did mean he got caught out of position on occasion, allowing Posh to break down the right through Maddison. The winger was a powerful runner confident with both feet but he couldn’t quite get his crossing right, even if he forced a 25th minute stop from Josh Lillis, while attempts at combination play between Danny Lloyd and Jack Marriott were a little disjointed.

First goal key

After a cross from the right, Andrew took a superb first touch before striking the ball into the far corner on 33 minutes. The hosts grew in confidence from that, with Andrew and Slew winning a number of free-kicks in good areas, one of which was fired in by Callum Camps just four minutes after the opener.

Solid second period

The second half was an excellent defensive display from the hosts. While the wing-backs kept getting forward at the right moments, Oliver Rathbone covered the wide areas superbly in an impressive, gritty display from the midfielder. Rochdale had a couple of breakaways through Camps that they could have made more of with a bit more composure in the final third and better finishing from Ian Henderson, who had the pick of the chances.

Posh individuals

Peterborough were United in name but not in nature, with a lack of cohesion on the field, especially in the final third. Leo Da Silva Lopes went on a couple of bright runs down the right and he found half-time substitute Ricky Miller at the near-post, but his effort lacked the power to trouble Josh Lillis. Miller, who shot from unrealistic positions, had the feel of a forward that was playing on his own at times, meaning that in the absence of Junior Morias, Peterborough still need a focal point to their attacks.

Hill’s happy 500

This has been a difficult season for Rochdale, who in the absence of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Matty Lund have looked more timid than the side that took this division by storm in their first two or three seasons at this level. However, today was a day on which the whole club rallied behind their manager in a wholehearted performance to drag them out of the bottom four. Just what the doctor ordered for Dale.