Rochdale vs Hartlepool United. Sky Bet League One.
Spotland StadiumAttendance2,600.
Saturday 27 August 2011 18:13, UK
Hartlepool inflicted Rochdale's first home defeat of the season as they romped to a 3-1 victory at Spotland on Saturday.
The visitors edged ahead on eight minutes when Steve Haslam's inswinging cross found Adam Boyd and he rose above Marcus Holness to send a looping header over David Lucas and into the net. Mick Wadsworth's side were unable to hold on to that advantage in the League One clash for long as Rochdale hit back on 16 minutes. A raking pass from Gary Jones picked out Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro and the Frenchman sent a first-time volley past Scott Flinders. However, Dale's bad habit of starting poorly came back to haunt them again at the start of the second half as James Poole's cushioned left-footed volley from 20 yards restored Hartlepool's lead within two minutes the restart. Jason Kennedy saw a close-range shot blocked and Joe Thompson headed straight at Scott Flinders from six yards as Dale looked for an equaliser, but it was game over for the hosts when Poole controlled Paul Murray's pass and clipped his second past Lucas on 86 minutes.
