Rochdale 3 - 0 Blackpool: Blackpool relegation fears grow after defeat at Rochdale

Goals from Ashley Eastham, Joe Bunney and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing were enough to give Rochdale a 3-0 win against relegation-threatened Blackpool in the Sky Bet League One game at Spotland.

Rochdale took until 30 minutes to start showing signs of a side pushing for a play-off place and despite dominating possession, Blackpool's performance was riddled with mistakes and missed chances from strikers Mark Cullen and Jacob Blyth.

Dale's opening goal came one minute before half-time when Donal McDermott's cross found Eastham's head to put them in the lead as they went down the tunnel.

Rochdale came out for the second half fired up and it did not take long for them to double their lead. McDermott's initial shot was saved by Colin Doyle but the resulting corner led to a goalmouth scramble with Bunney getting the decisive touch.

Blackpool showed little in response and on 60 minutes Dale had a third after Mendez-Laing found himself through on goal to calmly slotted the ball past Doyle.

The defeat left Blackpool two points from safety with only three games remaining.