A fantastic performance from Rovers, probably the best of the season in terms of organisation, professionalism and spirit.
We actually started the game slowly and were a bit sloppy for the first five minutes, with Accrington passing it well and their wide players causing us problems. The first goal came against the run of play and resulted from an excellent cross from Morris and a good header from Vaughan, which their keeper nonetheless should have saved.
The goal settled us down, and from that moment on I thought we completely controlled the game. We did not create a hatful of chances but some of the football was excellent, with both Morris and CBT looking dangerous, and we got into dangerous areas on a number of occasions. Defensively we were superb, with both centre halves rock solid, the full backs playing well and Woodyard and McCullough providing great protection as ever.
Credit has to be given to Mellon for the starting line up. I am still not completely convinced by Connor, but having an extra body in midfield completely smothered Accrington and did not allow them to play the fluid football which the opening minutes showed they are capable of.
Every player contributed, but there were some excellent individual displays. I lost count of the number of times Clarke and Ellis won vital blocks and interceptions, or shepherded Accrington players out of dangerous areas, and it was great seeing them combine for the second goal. Wilson and Morris were very tidy on the ball and inventive, again benefitting from a better playing surface. CBT was great going forward and defensively and got a deserved ovation from the SWA when he went off, which will have done his confidence no harm. Woodyard covered an unbelievable amount of ground. The substitutes also made a difference when they came on, and it is good that we can use the experience of Danns and Perkins to close out games, rather than flogging them for ninety minutes.
However, my man of the match was James Vaughan. He scored the vital opening goal and I thought he was excellent as a lone striker, protecting the ball and linking the play even when he was surrounded by two or three defenders and had no right to retain possession.
Rochdale and Wimbledon have not had any major slip ups since our win at Shrewsbury, but points will be dropped in the weeks ahead, and if we can repeat today's performance in the remaining games we have a good chance of survival.