Nationwide Division Three

DALE ended their home campaign in the manner they have travelled through most of the season, playing poor football and failing to deliver a decent ball when most needed.

But they did eke out a draw against Southend and when news filtered through from Brunton Park, Cheltenham had done likewise against Carlisle, everyone present knew it was enough for safety.

Gary Jones led by example and it was the skipper who drew his side level 13 minutes after the restart, pouncing to stab home the rebound from his penalty that United keeper Darryl Flahavan failed to hold.

The Shrimpers' opener made Spotland a very nervy place for 10 minutes and arrived when Leon Constantine's shot was fumbled by Neil Edwards and just crept over the line.

Steve Parkin remained faithful to his 4-5-1 formation, with Lee McEvilly ploughing the lone furrow in attack in an unchanged starting line-up.

The vociferous crowd were treated to a dour first half bereft of entertainment as both sides looked nervous - Dale understandably but Southend, with nothing to play for, just thankfully.

Southend did carve out the best opening, when Mark Bentley picked up on a mistake by Greg Heald and fired a shot over the cross bar from 20 yards.

The home fans had to wait until nine minutes before the break for their first excitement when Leo Bertos got in behind full-back Nik Nicolau and drove his shot over the top from an acute angle.

The Kiwi caused more concern for United's defence seconds before the whistle when he got away again, only for Neil Redfearn's shot to be blocked.

Bentley got sight of goal again shortly after the restart, forcing Edwards into a brilliant one-handed stop. Jim Corbett followed up, but could only hoist his effort high into the WMG Stand.

Two minutes later Rochdale were behind. There appeared to be no danger when Constantine picked up a loose ball 30 yards out and hit a low shot towards Edwards. But it took a wicked bounce, forcing the keeper to spill the spinning ball and gather at the second attempt.

The whole place stopped for a split second before the referee's assistant waved his flag furiously and Mr Prosser signalled a goal.

Edwards reacted angrily, racing toward the linesman to voice his disgust. Parkin joined in the rant minutes later, but the fact was Dale were down and Carlisle ahead at Brunton Park.

Immediately the nature of the contest changed. The home side surged forward and Redfearn had a stinging free-kick tipped over by Flahavan. Griffiths then headed wide from a corner.

The suspicion was Prosser would even things up in terms of decisions and he played to the script on 57 minutes when Bertos' cross hit Nicolau's lowered arm and the official pointed immediately to the spot.

Jones didn't care. He grabbed the ball and hit a shot to Flahavan's right that the keeper managed to parry, only for Jones to follow up and poke the rebound under the recovering stopper.

Dale continued to look the better side as the game edged toward its conclusion. Rory Patterson replaced McEvilly eight minutes from time and almost scored when he hit Sean McClare's first-time ball on the volley only for Flahavan to make the save.

Patrick McCourt had been introduced 15 minutes previously, but it wasn't until injury time he produced his bag of tricks to leave the United defence in knots. His initial effort was saved and Patterson saw two more shots cleared away by some last-ditch defending by the visitors.

Constantine grazed the top of Edwards bar with the final act of the match, another anxious moment in a season full of them.

But when the whistle sounded seconds later, all frustrations lifted into the ether. Dale were safe after weeks and months of despair.

The players greeted their fans from the main stand and there was even talk of a lap of honour. But that would have been simply ridiculous. Safety first, yes, but hopefully lessons will be learned and a dramatic improvement will unfold next season.

Teams

ROCHDALE: N Edwards, W Evans, G Griffiths, G Heald (D Burgess, 58), S Smith, L Bertos, S McClare, S Warner, G Jones, N Redfearn (P McCourt, 73), L McEvilly (R Patterson, 82). Subs not used: M Gilks, K Townson.

Man of the match: Gareth Griffiths - the big man put in a big display to give Dale a platform to grab the vital point.

SOUTHEND: D Flahavan, D Jupp, L Cort, M Warren (L Hunt, 12), K Maher, T Bramble, L Constantine, M Bentley, N Nicolau, L Dudfield (N Jenkins, 77), J Corbett (M Husbands, 87). Subs not used: C Wilson, J Stuart.

Attendance: 3,591.

Referee: Phil Prosser (W Yorkshire).