English League Two
2008-05-17 - Rochdale vs Darlington
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
1st Leg : Darlington 2-1 Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale will be hoping this is the year when they finally end their 34 year stay in the 4th tier of English League football as they look to overturn a 1 goal lead here.
They finished in 5th spot in the table, 8 points behind Hereford in the final automatic spot, with a record of 23-11-12 over their 46 games.
At home, Rochdale were 11-4-8 with 37 goals scored and 28 conceded. While only 2 sides had more home wins than Dale this season, only Bradford lost more home games in the top half of the table. Rochdale had a strong attack at home with only 4 teams managing to score more than they did.
Rochdale's 1-2 defeat in the 1st leg was their first in 10 league games. Their home form has been particularly impressive at the end of the season and they are unbeaten in 8 games there, winning 7 of those games. Rochdale will look to the fact they have only conceded 1 goal in their last 3 home games.
Nathan Stanton returns for Dale after serving a suspension, but goalkeepers Sam Russell and James Spencer are both out meaning Lee will continue in goal. Lee Thorpe misses out with a broken arm.
Darlington
Darlington finished the season in 6th spot, 2 points behind their opponents here. They ended with a 22-12-12 record from their 46 games.
Darlington had as many away wins as they did at home. They had a 11-5-7 away record with 31 goals scored and 18 conceded. This left them with the best away defence in the division and they will need that to protect the lead they have established from the 1st leg.
Darlington had been on a terrible run coming into the playoffs with only 1 win from their previous 9 league games, albeit in their last game of the season. They had also lost 5 of those games. Darlington's 0-2 win at promoted Peterborough on the last day was their 1st away win in 7 attempts and they had drawn 3 and lost 3 of their previous 6 games on their travels.
Przemyslaw Kazimierczak is ready to play in goal for Darlington if regular keeper, David Stockdale, fails to pass a fitness test. Alan White is back in the squad but Ryan Valentine and Ben Parker are doubts. Tommy Wright is another who will need a fitness test but Ian Miller is in contention for a starting spot after coming off the bench last week. Pawel Abbott is out.
Head to Head
This is the 4th meeting between the sides this season and it currently stands at 1-1-1. Darlington won the first leg with an injury time goal 2-1. Rochdale won their home game over Darlington 3-1 on January 1st.
The teams have occupied the same division over the past 10 seasons and Rochdale have won 3 of their 10 home games over Darlington with 6 draws and 1 Darlington win. This is 2 Rochdale wins, 3 draws and 1 Darlington win over their past 6 matches in Rochdale.
Prediction
Rochdale are most definitely the form side out of the 2 teams but Darlington will have the momentum after scoring that injury time winner in the first leg.
I can see the potential for Darlington to rely on their solid defence to pull them through in this tie but I am not convinced they will keep Rochdale out for the whole 90 minutes.
Extra time is a definite possibility here so I would favour a Rochdale win in 90 minutes.
The Pick :
Rochdale 1-0 Darlington
