Words John Edwards | Pictures Jonathan Moore

Rochdale 3 Altrincham 0

Travel-weary Altrincham succumbed to a defeat that cost them dearly as Rochdale climbed above them into seventh place in the Vanarama National League at the Crown Oil Arena.

If Rochdale shaded the first half, it wasn't by much, but there could be no doubting who dominated the second 45 minutes as a gruelling fixture schedule began to take its toll on Phil Parkinson's team, with passes going astray and uncharacteristically below-par defending gifting goals to a grateful home side.

It was tough to take for the manager and his players, but, after being on the road six times out of seven in recent weeks, they can at least now look forward to three home games on the bounce, starting with Saturday's visit of Aldershot.

Alty were still digesting news that Regan Linney has been retrospectively banned for three games, following an off-the-ball incident at Southend on Saturday, when they almost suffered another shock.

A cross from the left by Harvey Gilmour in the 10th minute looked perfect for Jay Bird, but the striker let the Robins off the hook by heading wastefully wide from an inviting position.

Alty began to settle into their stride after that early scare, but the offside flag brought a premature end to several promising forays by the Robins in the opening quarter-of-an-hour.

Rochdale threatened in the 28th minute when Bird found space on the right for a drilled low cross that just eluded Aidan Barlow's outstretched boot at the near post.

It took two exceptional saves from Rob Lainton to keep Alty on level terms in the closing stages of the first half.

In the 35th minute, Tobi Adebayo-Rowling advanced towards the bye-line on the right and delivered a chip into the middle, where Connor McBride met it with a firm header from no more than six yards that Lainton somehow managed to parry.

Two minutes later, Rochdale looked to have blown their chance of an opening goal when Bird lost possession near the edge of the Alty area, but the ball broke kindly to Barlow for a first-time shot that was curling inside the right-hand post until Lainton went full length to palm it away.

After exactly 44 minutes, it was Rochdale keeper Sam Waller's turn to shine.

A pass from Isaac Marriott, not far away from his own area, sent Alex Newby scampering clear towards the Rochdale 18-yard line, from where his firmly-struck shot was superbly blocked by Waller.

Both sides had carved out chances to open the scoring, and there was another for Rochdale in the 48th minute when an Adebayo-Rowling cutback from the right found Bird, who had to stretch to connect with a shot that sailed over from no more than six yards out.

When Bird set off on a lung-busting run from deep inside his own half in the 64th minute, it led to Rochdale breaking the deadlock.

The ball was eventually slipped to Tarryn Allarakhia on the left, and after a step-over and burst of acceleration down the wing, his low cross was bundled over the line by Barlow.

Worse followed for the Robins just three minutes later when Bird spun away from a Lewis Baines challenge and advanced towards the area before firing a low shot past Lainton to double his side's lead.

Persistence from Justin Amaluzor almost hauled Alty back into it after 75 minutes as he hustled Sam Beckwith off the ball and drilled an angled effort just wide of the far post.

But any thoughts of salvaging something from the evening disappeared in the 82nd minute when Rochdale made it 3-0 with a goal that had more than a touch a good fortune about it.

Kairo Mitchell held off a challenge from Baines to open up space for a shot that he scuffed so badly that it wrong-footed Lainton, who clearly anticipated a much cleaner contact and was left flat on the floor as the ball bobbled past him.

A disappointing night all round, then, for an Alty side who have clocked up some miles in recent weeks and seemed to show signs of fatigue, with so many games coming one after another, particularly the away variety.

Rochdale Waller; East, Allarakhia (Buyabu, 80'), Gilmour (c) (Weston, 87'), Adebayo-Rowling, Barlow (Henderson, 80'), McBride (Ayinde, 61'), Hogan, Bird (Mitchell, 70'), Kingdon, Beckwith. Subs not used: Ebanks-Landell, Ferguson.

Altrincham Lainton; Baines (c), Cooper, Marriott (Osborne, 74'), Newby, Amaluzor (Weaver, 81'), Wilson (Reddin, 81'), Crawford, Golden, Bickerstaff, Pasiek (Banks, 77'). Subs not used: Kosylo, Ansen. 

HT 0-0

Goals Barlow 64', Bird 67', Mitchell 82' | None

Yellows Gilmour 45'+1, McBride 56' | Marriott 69', Cooper 80'

Reds None | None

Referee Stuart Morland

Assistants Wayne Gray & Aaron Hallam

Fourth official Harry Jones

Attendance 2,053 (264 away)

Next Up

Finally we're returning home to face Aldershot Town on Saturday (3pm) - the start of four Vanarama National League games in 11 days at The J.Davidson Stadium.

Full ticket info for our four-game homestand against Aldershot, Wealdstone, Barnet and Solihull Moors is available by clicking here.