Devante's just in time for Dale

DEVANTE Rodney’s sixth goal of the season, deep in stoppage time, kept Rochdale in the play-off hunt and condemned Sutton United to a seventh league defeat of the campaign.

- Paul Rooney

The Dale substitute latched onto Tobi Adebayo-Rowling’s centre to head home the winner after Ryan East had earlier seen his first-half effort cancelled out by Sutton’s Eduino Vaz.

“It was good performance against a tough opponent who came with a game plan,” said Dale boss Jimmy McNulty.

“We controlled the middle of the pitch for long periods especially in the second half.

“I felt it would take all the minutes to get the job done and in the end it was a well deserved win.

“We showed a lot of character collectively and I am very proud of them all. It’s a huge buzz for the lads to win like that after suffering heartbreak last Saturday (against Bromley) and really good to get some of our key players back today.”