Crewe were swotted away all to easily by League Two's runaway leaders.

Competitive Rochdale were too strong in midfield and too potent up front to let tame Alex, hampered by the early loss of leading scorer Calvin Zola, off the hook at Spotland.

Chris O'Grady's fierce eighth-minute volley - his 16th goal of the campaign - set Dale on their way.

Then youngster Matt Tootle blotted his copybook with an embarrassing own goal at the start of the second half, which left Dario Gradi's side with a mountain to climb.

-The Sentinel

Dario Gradi refused to blame bad luck for Saturday's loss at Rochdale.

Top-scorer Calvin Zola limped off after just five minutes, and Crewe were denied a blatant penalty in the first half.

But poor defending cost them again, and Gradi said: "It wasn't a good afternoon for us but the boys stuck at it without really showing the same quality that they did."

-The Chronicle

Gary Jones has vowed to make up for lost time in Rochdale's promotion push. The skipper of League Two leaders Dale has been reduced to a bit-part role since recovering from a hamstring injury.

But Jones marked his return to the side by inspiring Keith Hill's troops: "It's the first time I've been out injured here but I'm back and I believe we'll now go all the way."

-The Sun

Dale stretched their lead at the top to six points to leave boss Keith Hill singing the praises of his small squad. Chris O'Grady's early strike and an own goal from Matt Tootle sealed the win for Dale, who bounced back from seeing their 11-game unbeaten run ended at Bury last Monday.

-The Daily Star

"Everything is going against us at the moment but we've got to keep going. We couldn't produced the quality they did." - Dario Gradi

- The Times