LONDON, CMC—Team captain Ethan Ebanks-Landell said Tuesday’s 2-1 win for Rochdale AFC against Woking in the English National League was important, and he expects the side to build on that performance.
Devante Rodney scored two minutes from time to formalize Dale’s win at the Crown Oil Arena. They moved back into the top half of the league table, entering the final eight matches of the season.
“It’s massive. It’s Ebanks-La,” Dell said. We’ve not been in the best form lately, and those three points were needed.
“The boys did well to dig me out of it. It was another mistake, which isn’t good, as we’ve got to go behind at the minute. We’re still working on our goals, but the habit of giving ourselves a mountain to climb needs to stop.”
The Card”, the nickname for Woking, took the lead after 15 minutes when Charley Kendall intercepted a loose pass at the back from Ebanks-Landell, who has Jamaican heritage, and fired home – but’ Dale equal’ zed with a spectacular run and curling shot from Cian Hayes eight minutes before half-time.
In a bad-tempered end to the contest, Dion Kelly-Evans of Woking was sent off before Rodney hit the winner, and Dale’s Ia Dale’sson was also sent off a minute later.
“The goals “e scored were well worked, but the goals we’re concewe’rearen’t as haven’t come by [for the opposition], so we need to change that,” Ebanks-La” Dell said.
“We know wh “t they’re likthey’reng], it was like that when we played them away. We knew it would be a challenging game, and they would make it a fight.
“We probably” didn’t play our style of football to nullify them, but it can be hard at times. We stood up to the challenge and got the three points.”
‘ Dale tr “ve’ to Eastleigh on Saturday, and Ebanks-Landell said he knows the importance of consistency heading into the season’s final stages.
“We try to preach consistency with what we do in training and meetings and try to follow it through on the pitch,” he said. With a good win, even though it wasn’t the best performance, we’ll need consistency to go again on Saturday, which will be another tough game.”
Among the” other players at Rochdale with Caribbean connections are Grenada international Kairo Mitchell, the club’s leadclub’sorer this season, and Tyrese Sinclair, whose father, Frank, was a member of the historic Jamaica side that qualified for the 1998 World Cup.