Ian Watson praises Rochdale players after beating Oldham

Rochdale boss Ian Watson praised his players for adapting to the demands of the Greater Manchester derby clash against Oldham following their 2-0 win at the Crown Oil Arena.

Dan Moss’ seventh-minute opener eased the tension around the stadium, fans having called for Watson’s head in the previous home fixture, a 4-1 loss against Gillingham.

Oldham spurned several chances before Dajaune Brown doubled the lead for Dale in the 62nd minute. The win lifted Watson’s men off the foot of the League Two table and secured bragging rights over their near neighbours.

“Derby days bring a lot of tension and nerves and probably suit a different style than the one we like to play, these games are full of chaos,” said Watson. “But I thought we adapted and found a way to win the game incredibly well. Today was just about getting a result for the fans and for the club. The scoreboard was all that mattered.

“The performance wasn’t where we want it to be, but derby days are almost an isolated case where you just need the scoreboard right and to get a good feeling around the club.

“I’m incredibly proud of the boys. We’d spoken all week about what this game means to the fans and how much we wanted to run and duel with the opposition to show how much it means to us, and I thought the players did that.”

In between Dale’s goals, Oldham had created several openings. Mike Fondop headed a good chance over and then fired wide with an open goal at his mercy after a mistake from Dale goalkeeper Nils Ramming.

Oldham manager Micky Mellon was bitterly disappointed his side were unable to reward the travelling supporters and accepted responsibility for the result would fall on his shoulders.

“It’s one of the first times in my career that I’ve had to apologise for a performance,” he said. “I take full responsibility for it, it’s my team, I pick it and there was no one out there representing the supporters and the club the way they should have been today.

“Although we missed an incredible amount of opportunities, and some of them beggared belief, the goals that we gave away were very basic as well, things that we speak about all the time. So that’s all going to be on the manager and that’s the way it rolls.

“I’m gutted that we didn’t represent the supporters, because they turned up in their numbers. I don’t believe it matters, if you miss that amount of chances and you give goals away, it’s a bad concoction at the minute and that is going to be on the manager.”