County travel to Spotland on Saturday for our FA Cup First Round tie against old foes Rochdale, in the first competitive meeting between the two sides since the 2008 play-off final at Wembley.
Having only discovered on Monday that our qualifying game against Chesterfield was to be replayed, Jim Gannon’s side made the most of their second chance on Wednesday night with a convincing 4-0 victory, making amends somewhat after Saturday’s disappointing League defeat to Weymouth.
For League One Rochdale, who enter the competition at this stage, defeat at Oxford United on Tuesday night ended a four game unbeaten run for the Dale, leaving them 16th in the table after 11 games.
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Our Opponents:
Now in their seventh successive season in the third tier of English Football, last year was the first time Rochdale had started a campaign without Keith Hill in charge since 2013, with former player Bryan Barry-Murphy taking control on a permanent basis, having steered the side to 16th as interim manager, when replacing the sacked Hill.
It was a mixed first full season in management for Murphy as another relegation battle followed for the Dale, although they did enjoy a run to the Third Round of last season’s FA Cup, where a late goal from former Hatter Aaron Wilbraham saw them take Premier League Newcastle United to a replay – which they eventually lost 4-1 at St James Park.
Despite some disappointing results, which included heavy defeats to Portsmouth, Oxford, and a 6-0 loss at Peterborough United, the goals of veteran hitman Ian Henderson proved enough to get the side over the dotted line, as a 3-1 win over Rotherham in their final game before national lockdown #1 saw them finish 18th in the league standings with 36 points from 34 games – four points above the drop zone.
The loss of several key players over the Summer looked to have hit the side hard going into the new season as Henderson, the third top scorer in League One with 15 goals, departed for Salford City, whilst their second-top scorer Callum Camps followed him out of the exit door, joining Fleetwood Town. Key defensive midfielder Jordan Williams has also since departed, joining Blackpool on a one year deal.
Amongst their incomings are a few faces County fans may recognize – Alex Newby, who has played against us regularly for Chorley in recent years, has made the move to Spotland and already has three goals to his name, whilst former Salford City striker Jake Beesley has joined from Solihull Moors.
Their most significant signing of 2020 however actually came in January, as Matthew Lund returned for a second spell at the Club, joining from Scunthorpe United.
The midfielder made 130 appearances for the Club in his first spell, and has been in fine form so far this season with five goals already, included a memorable brace in a recent 2-2 home draw with Sunderland.
Despite again going into the season as relegation favorites, Dale have so far defied those odds to enjoy a solid start to the campaign, and will be looking for another strong Cup run to match last season.
Match Stats:
- This will be the first competitive meeting between the two sides since our League 2 play-off final victory in 2008. Rochdale defender Jim McNulty lined up for Jim Gannon’s side that day.
- County have a good record against Rochdale in general, with 51 wins to Rochdale’s 40 in our 122 competitive meetings so far.
- If selected, Jordan Keane will make his 100th appearance for Stockport County on Saturday.
- This will be our first game against League One opposition since facing Peterborough United in 2010/11, losing 4-1 in a replay after a 1-1 draw at Edgeley Park.
