Match report: Rochdale 2 Notts County 1

HANS Backe said it himself ahead of the game: Notts County's trip to Spotland to face promotion rivals Rochdale was significant.

It was arguably the biggest test of their promotion credentials so far this season.

Ben Davies gave them the lead in the first half. But they lost 2-1, to a controversial penalty and a goal borne from a monumental defensive mistake. And so their long unbeaten run was ended.

Minus 11-goal leading scorer Lee Hughes, the Magpies made one change and Ade Akinbiyi got the nod ahead of Karl Hawley to make his full league debut for Notts.

Matt Ritchie was dropped to the bench and Craig Westcarr was restored to the midfield for his first start in four games.

Westcarr began on the left wing as Backe again employed a five-man midfield. Luke Rodgers started on the opposite flank and Ben Davies, Johnnie Jackson and Neal Bishop, wearing the armband, were his central midfield trio,

Rochdale put Notts on the back foot in the early stages and won six corners in the first 11 minutes. Will Atkinson, making his home debut for Dale, got an early sight of goal on seven minutes. He turned past Davies and drove powerfully at goal.

Kasper Schmeichel reacted rapidly and parried his low effort away, low down at his right-hand post.

The Magpies made a tactical change after only 12 minutes, switching to a 4-4-2 formation, with Rodgers joining Akinbiyi in attack. Davies switched to the left wing and Westcarr to the right.

They went close to breaking the deadlock a minute later when Davies swung a corner into the six-yard box. Bishop rose highest among a crowd of players but directed a header against the crossbar.

With a foothold established, Brendan Moloney adventured forward purposefully into the penalty area minutes later but his strike was blocked and deflected wide for a corner. Westcarr then went close, curling the ball narrowly wide of Tom Heaton's left-hand post from just outside the penalty area.

Chris O'Grady fired wide in reply for the home side before Chris Dagnall thundered a shot against the underside of the crossbar from 20 yards on 23 minutes. The ball rebounded to Jason Kennedy but he blazed over the bar under pressure. It was a huge let-off for Notts.

Graeme Lee was booked in the opening stages for a mistimed tackle but there was nothing mistimed about his header from another dangerous Davies corner on the half-hour mark. The Magpies' towering centre-back pulled off his marker and headed powerfully at goal but it was scrambled off the goal-line and cleared by Rochdale.

Notts went ahead on 35 minutes when Davies pounced from close-range.

But Dale were controversially level only six minutes later.

Jamie Clapham was harshly adjudged to have brought down Dagnall in the box, as the pair tussled for the ball, and the striker stepped up to beat Schmeichel from the penalty spot.

It got worse for the Magpies in the first minute of first half injury time as they fell 2-1 behind as O'Grady, Nottingham-born and a player who spent a short time on loan at Notts earlier in his career, capitalised on a defensive blunder.

Lee and Stephen Hunt got in each other's way trying to clear the ball and O'Grady sidestepped Schmeichel to score. Having led, the first half ended disastrously and left Backe's men with a mountain to climb in the second half.

It proved Hunt's last involvement. He was replaced by John Thompson at the start of the second half.

Thompson was almost instantly involved, making a vital clearance when Will Buckley crossed dangerously into the six-yard box from the left wing. Clapham curled a left-footed free-kick over the bar from 25 yards minutes later.

With the Magpies looking unlikely to level the game, Backe made his second change on the hour mark, introducing Ritchie for Rodgers. The on-loan Portsmouth youngster was quickly in the thick of the action but sent a shot wastefully wide from the edge of the penalty area. It left Akinbiyi as the only striker on the pitch but he did not look a threat.

Still, Notts strived for an equaliser and Moloney found Davies in space 30 yards from goal on 68 minutes. He took a touch to control the ball and then hit it, but it deflected off Craig Dawson and harmlessly over the bar.

Hawley replaced Jackson on 75 minutes to join Akinbiyi in attack. A minute later, Clapham sent a low left-footed strike wide from inside the box. Thompson then blocked a powerful effort from Dagnall as the home side went for the killer goal.

The Magpies dominated possession in the closing stages and penned Rochdale back. Ritchie lifted over from close-range on 86 minutes. Moloney then fired wide before Akinbiyi shot straight at Heaton from close-range in the second minute of added time.

It left Backe still waiting for his first league win.