Stalemate at Spotland
Rochdale registered their first clean sheet of the season after a goalless draw against Carlisle at Spotland.
Dale skipper Gary Jones came closest in a bright opening 45 minutes when his deflected effort from 20 yards forced Adam Collin into a full-stretch save.
Carlisle's best effort came just before the break when Peter Murphy curled a well-struck free-kick narrowly wide of Jake Kean's far post.
Jones signalled Dale's intent within when his defence-splitting pass sent Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro and Ashley Grimes through on the Carlisle goal and although Grimes took the initiative, Collin pulling off a good save to deny the striker a fourth goal in his last three games.
Referee Mark Brown proved unpopular with both sets of supporters - and the respective dugouts - and he incurred the wrath of the Spotland faithful when waving away penalty appeals following Paul Thirlwell's heavy challenge on Akpa Akpro.
The hosts kept up the pressure on Carlisle's goal, Andrew Tutte's long-range effort beaten out by Collin, and it was a rare moment of respite for the visitors when Marcus Holness made a timely intervention to deny Francois Zoko at the other end.
Rochdale 0-0 Carlisle: Match Report - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game as it happened.
Source: DSG
