With Altrincham pressing for a winner they were undone by a late goal at the other end which reduced their playoff hopes to being more of a mathematical possibility than probability.

The Robins created little in the first half and fell behind following a Dale corner in the 20th minute. Though Beckwith overhit his corner the ball was recycled to him and his low shot from 22 yards found the back of the Alty net.

The hosts increased the tempo in the second half and deservdly levelled when Isaac Marriott's shot from the edge of the box beat Barrett in the Rochdale goal (59 mins).

Altrincham dominated the latter stages but could not find a winner before Rochdale won possession amidst claims of handball and Gilmour fed Rodney who netted from the left (89 mins).

Despite further pressure the Robins could not find a leveller and dropped to ninth, six points outside the play-offs with just three games remaining.

SCORERS:

• 20 mins: Sam BECKWITH (ALTRINCHAM 0 Rochdale 1)
• 59 mins: Isaac MARRIOTT (ALTRINCHAM 1 Rochdale 1)
• 89 mins: Davante RODNEY (ALTRINCHAM 1 Rochdale 2)

REFEREE: Mr Neil Hair

ATTENDANCE: 3,464 (1,036 in away section)

TEAM NEWS:

Altrincham made two changes as James Jones replaced a presumably injured Charlie Olson, who was not in the squad today, and Isaac Marriott replaced Elliot Osborne. Justin Amaluzor and Lucas Weaver were missing from the squad in addition to the longer-term injured list of Rob Lainton, Eddy Jones, Joe Nuttall, Jake Cooper, Ethan Ross and Ollie Crankshaw.

Also on the the bench was Blackburn Rovers' loanee Brandon Powell, where he was joined by Jake Bickerstaff, who returned after injury.

Rochdale named the same squad which had beaten Easteigh last time out.

Five Altrincham players reached landmarks today. For Newby, Crawford and Golden it was their fiftieth appearance of the season; for Linney and Banks it was a 100th career appearance.

Facing Alty, Kyle Ferguson and Jack Kingdon, who had both played for Altrincham, were named on the Rochdale bench.

LINE-UPS:

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts and whits socks): 21. Caleb ANSEN (gk), 2. Lewis BANKS, 16. James JONES, 4. Lewis BAINES (c), 23. Tylor GOLDEN, 8. Isaac MARRIOTT, 22. Tom CRAWFORD, 14. Matty KOSYLO, 77. Callum DOLAN, 10. Alex NEWBY, 9. Regan LINNEY. Subs: 6. Elliot OSBORNE, 19. George WILSON, 33. Brandon POWELL, 20. Kahrel REDDIN, 29. Jake BICKERSTAFF 30. Harvey RANDLE (gk), 42. Matt PENNEY.

ROCHDALE (Dark blue shirts and socks, black shorts): 1. Killian Barrett, 2. Kyron Gordon, 6. Ethan Ebanks-Landell (c), 7. Tarryn Allarakhia, 8. Harvey Gilmour, 10. Devante Rodney, 14. Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, 18. Aidan Barlow, 24. Corey Edwards, 33. Sam Beckwith, 40. Ian Henderson. Subs: 28. Jack Kingdon, 9. Kairo Mitchell, 3. Finlay Armstrong, 15. Leon Ayinde, 16. Kyle Ferguson, 31. Curtis Weston, 11. Michael Adu-Poku

Both clubs had faltered in recent weeks with Alty now lying eighth and Rochdale sixth, four points ahead and with a game in hand.

However, Dale had not won any of their last eight away trips but they had won 4-0 the previous Saturday at home to Eastleigh, the club bottom of the form guide currently.

The match was preceded by a minute's applause for the former Dale player Joe Thompson who had died after battling cancer.

REPORT:

The match was preceded by a minute's applause for the former Dale player Joe Thompson who had died after battling cancer.

On a soft pitch, which was already exhibiting several sizable divots before play started, it was Altrincham who kicked off towards the packed away end on a damp afternoon.

The opening stages were cagey and uneventful with a half-blocked shot by Crawford, which ran to the keeper, the first effort of any note (5 mins).

Play drifted on uneventfully before applause for Joe Thompson broke out on the fifteenth minute, fifteen having been his squad number.

Four minutes later Rochdale won the first corner of the afternnon. From the left, Beckwith overhit this but the ball was recycled back from beyond the back post to the corner-taker who had moved infield and, from a fairly central position, Beckwith struck a firm, low shot into the net past Ansen (20 mins).

Soon afterwards, Crawford sat down for treatment with George Wilson already prepared to enter the arena, which he duly did (24 mins). As the stricken midfielder was treated, Phil Parkinson summoned his outfield players to the touchline for a tactical talk.

When Rochdale got forward, seemingly having dispossessed Marriott courtesy of a foul which was not signalled, George Wilson took a wild kick which felled Rodney and he was duly booked (27 mins).

When play again stopped, this time for treatment to Kosylo, Alty again convened a team-gathering on the touchline for more tactical tweaks from the management (32 mins).

And, indeed, adjustments were needed to try and prompt an improvement on the home side's lacklustre opening half hour.

Next, a good Rochdale move culminated in Allarakhia's curling shot which cleared the far angle of post wnd crossbar (36 mins).

And it was also Allarakhia whose cross soon prompted a Henderson header against the crossbar with half-time approaching (45 mins).

Moments later Dale had the ball in the net, tappe in from a Beckwith ball into the box, but the offside flag had been raised to avoid Alty blushes at some indifferent defending.

In the third added minute of thwe first half Linney was brought down by Beckwith on the right bye-line and the Dale man was duly booked (45+3 mins).

After a Kosylo effort had been blocked, the interval arrived to conclude a disappointing first half from the hosts in which they had barely troubled the Rochdale keeper.

For the second half Weston replaced Edwards for the visitors.

Altrincham were fortunate not to concede early on when James Jones's sideways pass, just inide his own half, went to an opponent, Barlow. who then got past Golden before Gilmour freed Rodney whose effort clipped the outside of the Alty upright (48 mins).

Barlow went close soon afterwards as he curled a shot narrowly wide (50 mins). Two fouls in a minute by Dolan earned him a lecture in the presenec of his captain. He was fortunate to evade a yellow card (54 mins).

And the Robins were soon relieved again when the ball came off Banks to Rodney but he was unable to get a clean strike on the ball which ended up in Ansen's hands.

Just before the hour mark Altrincham began to up the tempo but, when an Ansen kick upfield set Linney running into the box on the right, the forward was unable to find Newby in the goalmouth to his left, and Barrett got the ball (57 mins).

Altrincham continued to apply pressure, which soon paid off as the ball came to Marriott, from Kosylo, and the midfielder drove it home from 20 yards. He immediately ran back into his own half rather than engaging in extravagant celebrations (59 mins).

The sides then won a corner apiece as Linney became more of a threat in the game, cutting in from the left more than once. Midway through the half, Osborne replaced Dolan (67 mins). Rochdale also made a change with Henderson giving way to Mitchell (68 mins).

Next, Matty Kosylo picked up a booking (69 mins), followed by his replacement on the pitch by Reddin, soon afterwards (71 mins).

Marriott was having a good game for Alty as they continued to enjoy the forward momentum. The Robins threatened again when Reddin's pass towards Newby from the right saw the Alty man blocked. Appeals for a handling offence from a backpass were overruled as the visitors were themselves awarded a freekick instead (73 mins).

Alty continued on the front foot but, when Linney was put through on goal, he disappointingly could only win a corner (79 mins). Alty's cause was also not helped in the second half by a number of avoidable offside offences.

Dale made a double change wih Armstrong replacing Gordon (84 mins) and Kingdon, who had played once for Alty in the Cheshire Senior Cup, replaced Beckwith (85 mins).

Alty's penalty appeals when Reddin went down inside the box went unheeded before a fine, diagonal ball from Osborne set up Linney for a shot from the left which was saved (88 mins).

Bickerstaff came on for Marriott (88 mins), as Alty continued to look the more likely victors. But Rochdale then gained possession on the left some thirty yards from goal. The referee ignored appeals for handball as the influential Gilmour advanced and fed the incoming Rodney who beat Ansen from left of goal to make it 1-2 (89 mins).

Six added minutes were computed during which Alty pressed forward. Dale brought on former Alty defender Ferguson for Rodney(90+2 mins) after which Bickerstaff advanced into the box but dragged his shot disappointingly wide, though a corner followed (90+3 mins).

Alty won two late corners, with Ansen going forward for the latter one. The game ended in the 97th minute soon after Linney had, once more, been flagged for offside.

Altrincham are now six points outside the play-off with just three games remaining. A win over FC Halifax Town on Easter Monday is a necessity to keep the fading play-off hopes alive. Just eight points accrued from the last twelve NL games tell their own story.