Rochdale defeat delights Dickov

Paul Dickov was a relieved man after his Doncaster side score twice in the last five minutes to see off Rochdale with a 3-1 win.

Dale were down to 10 men for the last 40 minutes after Matt Done saw red for a challenge on James Coppinger. But Dickov saw his side miss a sackful of chances before substitute Theo Robinson made the breakthrough after 86 minutes. Curtis Main - who could have had a hat-trick - added the third in the last minute of the match. "We got off to the worst possible start conceding but after that, I thought the boys were fantastic," said Rovers boss Dickov. "Even when it was 11 v 11, we created as many chances that I can remember in any game. It would have been a crying shame if we hadn't won the game. "I had a feeling today that it was going to come, you can't pepper the goal as much as that without getting one in. I've got to give the players credit because with that amount of chances and possession, the tendency is to think that its not going to be your day. But even 11 v 11, I thought some of the football was outstanding. "When teams go down to 10 men, Dale had a bank of four at the back and it is difficult. But we didn't panic, we didn't start launching balls into the box - we kept playing. "We changed our shape after going a goal down to try and get us on the ball a bit more and I thought that worked out really well and Rochdale struggled to cope. We put Theo on and he showed how valuable he is and how valuable every member of the squad is." Done had fired Dale ahead in the eighth minute, before Kyle Bennett cancelled out that strike after 25 minutes. Done was sent off eight minutes into the second period and Rovers twice hit the post before Robinson and Main secured the win. Rochdale boss Keith Hill was livid with the performance of referee Jeremy Simpson, who awarded a corner to Doncaster when Rovers frontman Harry Forrester had clearly shot wide. That led to Robinson's goal and Hill said the mistake cost his side. "I've had a look at the sending off and the camera angle we've got isn't great but it looks like Matty Done has initially got the ball. He isn't off the floor in any way, shape of form but there is contact," said Hill. "And only the referee knows why he gave a corner there. That set the sequence of corners off that led to the goal. My player has to take responsibility for not marking in the box - Theo Robinson has just come on and we'd allocated a marker and he hasn't done his job. "But that's the way it goes sometimes in football - I thought we'd rode our luck enough when we went down to 10 men to have got something out of the game, but on reflection we've been beaten by a very good side and I'm not sure how it would have ended with 11 men on the field because they caused us problems throughout." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts