Dale eased their way to a 6-0 win in the opening pre-season game to be played in Blighty, with goals coming from Adam Le Fondre who grabbed four, Jon Shaw and William Buckley.

It was certainly not a result to get carried away with. Memories of a 9-0 victory over Radcliffe as the build up to Alan Buckley's time in charge are surely proof of that, but it did represent a good opportunity for the 500 or so Dale supporters present to see the new lads in action and get back into the swing of things.

In fact, all of the new lads were given a run out at Dark Lane as we trooped out in the new away shirt, which looks a little worryingly like a Bury shirt (all that was missing was Birthdays splashed across it).

There was an evident gulf in class between the two sides. It was men against boys, but it was the boys who were literally head and shoulders above their Rossendale opponents . Arguably, there was such a difference in standards that as a contest it was meaningless and Keith Hill would have learned very little from the game.

Which perhaps persuaded him away from doing the usual mass substitutions that accompany games like this, with ten of Dale's starting eleven getting a full ninety minutes run out with reaching towards match fitness becoming the priority.

Adam Le Fondre grabbed four goals, yet could have come away from the game disappointed with his performance. His movement and positioning was outstanding throughout to such an extent that he could / should have left Rossendale having scored as many as eight or nine goals personally.

The pick of the Dale goals came from Jon Shaw as Dale took advantage of a slip up by one of the well fed Rossendale defenders, with Rundle giving it to Shaw who curled it past Lee Bracey in the Rossendale goal.

It's debatable whether Russell had anything to do at any stage during the game.

Dale: Russell, Wiseman, Kennedy,  McArdle, Evans, Buckley, Toner, Keltie, Rundle (Higginbotham), Le Fondre, Shaw.

Photo: Action Images

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