Robbie Stockdale delighted to end ‘stickiest spell’ as Rochdale boss with win

Robbie Stockdale was relieved to end his “stickiest spell” as Rochdale manager after his side earned a 2-0 win against Carlisle at the Crown Oil Arena.

Dale ended a winless run of seven games, during which they had picked up just two points and slipped closer to the relegation zone.

But goals either side of the break from Liam Kelly and Conor Grant earned them some welcome breathing space in the bid for League Two safety.

“We were gutsy, skilful and energetic,” said Stockdale. “I thought we played very well in the first half and were in control of the game and maybe deserved to be more than one goal up.

“We have been in a really difficult moment, my first real sticky spell as a manager and the players responded really well in the second half when we had to defend.

“Carlisle didn’t cause us too many problems, but they put balls into the box and we were winning first and second contact. I can’t think of an occasion where Jay Lynch has had a save to make.

“There was a little bit of anxiety around our place because we haven’t been on a good run so we could have had a little bit more calmness on the ball. But at the same time I thought we deserved to go in ahead at half-time and the clean sheet is the most important thing.”

Kelly fired the home side ahead from the penalty spot just 10 minutes in after Stephen Dooley had been fouled by Corey Whelan.

Brennan Dickenson wasted a gilt-edged chance to level midway through the first half and Kristian Dennis saw a second-half header ruled out for a foul on Dale stopper Lynch.

Grant made the result safe 10 minutes from time when he raced onto a Corey O’Keeffe pass and rifled a shot into the roof of Mark Howard’s net.

Carlisle manager Paul Simpson rued his side’s poor start to the game.

He said: “We talked about the importance of starting right and when you come to a team who are scrapping for points and haven’t won for quite a while, you can’t afford to give them a lift.

“Maybe I have to look at myself a little bit for not changing the side, no freshening it up. I just felt the players deserved to go again because it’s been a monumental effort throughout March and I felt they could go again. It’s nothing against any individual but maybe we just needed a little bit of freshness.

“We are disappointed to lose but the players have been magnificent and we can’t forget that, it’s been a real big effort.

“This same group of players who everybody was throwing all sorts of mud at have been magnificent and maybe this was one game too many and I might have to take that on the chin.”