History of the Rochdale v Carlisle United fixture
Carlisle pack their bags to visit Rochdale at Spotland on Saturday afternoon, hoping to improve on an average previous return from this fixture. Of the 49 games played, the Cumbrians have recorded 13 wins and drawn 12 matches, while Rochdale have come away with 24 victories.
The last time the two sides met each other at Spotland came in October 2008, where the two teams cancelled each other out in a 2-2 draw in a Johnstone's Paint Trophy Northern Section Second Round tie. The Blues taking the lead as early as the fourth minute through Michael Bridges, only for the home side to then race into a 2-1 lead by the 16 minute mark thanks to two quick goals from Lee Thorpe and Chris Dagnall.
United though found an equaliser in front of 1,608 fans from Gary Madine's long range 71st minute strike and so the tie went to a penalty shootout. Grant Smith with the first Carlisle spot-kick and Simon Hackney with the fifth United penalty both hitting Rochdale goalkeeper Sam Russell's woodwork as the home side went through to the next round after converting all their four taken spot-kicks.
The last league game between the teams at Spotland came in early May 2006 as the Cumbrians all but assured themselves of winning the League Two title with a 2-0 win thanks to late first-half goals from Danny Livesey and then Peter Murphy as 4,439 spectators looked on, with a large amount of those being Blues fans housed in the Wilbutts Lane stand.
On the other side of the coin though another match of note played between the two at the 'Dale came in March 2004 with Rochdale running out comfortable 2-0 winners in a Division Three encounter. The United contingent made up pretty much half of the 4,775 crowd at Spotland that day but it counted for nothing in the end as it was just another away defeat in Carlisle's horrendous relegation season.
It was certainly a game full of incident though with Matt Glennon sent off after 32 minutes for a professional foul on that man Grant Holt. 'Dale's Gary Jones coolly stepping up to slot home the penalty as United faced playing the next 68 minutes with ten men. It was then Holt who rubbed salt into Cumbrian wounds just after the hour mark when he made it 2-0 to the home side and all but condemned the Blues to life in the Nationwide Conference.
Carlisle's biggest win of their 13 at Spotland came as far back as the opening day of the 1951-52 season in the old Third Division North, United winning 4-0 thanks to an Allan Ashman hat-trick and a single strike from Willie Hogan. As for Rochdale, well they have two 6-0 victories to show against Carlisle over the years, one coming in 1946-47 in Division Three North while the other occured in 2000-01 in Division Three (fourth tier level), United already 4-0 down by half-time in that game.
Recent encounters between the teams
| Season | Date | Team | Result | Team | Comp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010/2011 | Tue 23 Nov | Carlisle |
1 - 1 | Rochdale | League One |
| 2008/2009 | Tue 07 Oct | Rochdale | 2 - 2 | Carlisle |
(Associate Members) |
| 2005/2006 | Tue 02 May | Rochdale | 0 - 2 | Carlisle |
League Two |
| 2005/2006 | Sat 31 Dec | Carlisle |
2 - 1 | Rochdale | League Two |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 20 Mar | Rochdale | 2 - 0 | Carlisle |
League Division Three |
| 2003/2004 | Tue 14 Oct | Carlisle |
2 - 0 | Rochdale | (Associate Members) |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 13 Sep | Carlisle |
3 - 2 | Rochdale | League Division Three |
For a detailed analysis of the complete head-to-head record between the two sides, click here
Recent respective form guides
Rochdale have performed reasonably at home of late, winning three, drawing one and losing two of their last six matches at Spotland. These games have seen the Dale score just seven goals, but on the other side of the coin they have conceded only four. The away form of Carlisle on the other hand is dreadful, collecting just one solitary point from their last six games on the road. While the Cumbrians have notched six goals in those matches, a massive 16 have hit the back of the wrong net.
Rochdale lie just outside the play-off positions in the Npower League One table at the moment, in seventh place, picking up 64 points from their 42 games played so far. Meanwhile, Carlisle's 56 points from their 42 games contested to date sees them lie just inside the top half of the table, in 12th position.
Current overall team form
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochdale | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 10 |
| Carlisle |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
For a detailed analysis of current team form guides in this or any division, click here
FootyMad's prediction ...
FootyMad see this game edging towards a narrow win for the 'Dale, as the Cumbrians have been none too clever on the road in recent matches..... Home win
Sequence statistics
| Team | Sequences |
|---|---|
| Rochdale | Not drawn a match in their last four games. |
| Carlisle |
Not won in last six away matches. |
For a detailed analysis of current team sequences throughout the leagues, click here