'Footballing justice' served for jubilant Rochdale

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• Published1 hour ago

Fated. Destiny. Meant to be.

They may have had to wait an extra 15 days and travel 220 miles south of their Crown Oil Arena home to get the job done, but on Sunday Rochdale finally got their moment in the sun after their National League title dreams were snatched away by York City in one of the most memorable season climaxes English football has ever seen.

Many neutrals - and certainly boss Jimmy McNulty - felt justice was served as Dale beat Boreham Wood on penalties to join the Minstermen in the EFL after three years away following an incredible season that saw them accrue 106 points.

That was 16 more than fourth-placed Wood, who were left to wonder what might have been after a dramatic promotion final at Wembley that saw the Hertfordshire side leading 2-0 with 12 minutes remaining and coming within moments of a first promotion to the EFL in their 78-year history.

Mani Dieseruvwe's headed equaliser in the dying seconds of added time was his third stoppage-time goal in four matches and made it the sixth straight year the season finale had gone to extra time and the fourth time in that span a shootout was needed to decide who joins the 92.

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Cometh the hour, cometh the Mani

There was a time when Rochdale was only really known for not doing much of anything.

After being relegated from the old Division Three in 1974, Dale spent the next 36 years stuck in the fourth tier, never going up, never going down - to the point it became known in some quarters as 'the Rochdale division'.

The class of 2026 have, however, forged a new identity, one built around heart-stopping drama and a never-say-die attitude, one embodied perfectly by Wembley hero Dieseruvwe.

The 31-year-old has represented more than a dozen clubs since coming through Sheffield Wednesday's academy and signing his first pro deal at Hillsborough in 2013.

He's played up, down and across the northern half of the country, from National League North to National League to League Two to League One and all the way back again - helping Salford and Grimsby secure EFL promotions of their own along the way - before returning to non-league football where things finally clicked for him at Hartlepool in 2023.

His 23 goals in 39 National League games for Pools were followed by another 16 last season and led to Rochdale offering him a two-year deal last summer.

Twenty-seven league goals (and eight assists to boot) in 42 appearances is some way to repay the club's faith.

A 99th-minute winner at Braintree on 18 April kept Dale's title hopes alive and seven days later, a 95th-minute goal looked to have won Rochdale automatic promotion against York, only for a pitch invasion and a subsequent City leveller eight minutes later to condemn Dale to the play-offs. But Dieseruvwe had the final say once again, powering home a header from Casey Pettit's deep cross from the right via a deflection off James Clarke.

"It's unbelievable. It's surreal. I honestly don't know what's just happened," said Dieseruvwe, clutching a cold beer in the mixed zone in the bowels of Wembley Stadium after the on-field celebrations were over.

"The last kick of the game... again. We managed to take it to extra time and win the penalties – it's an unbelievable feeling."

Dieseruvwe's Dale career began with both goals in a 2-0 win at The Wood in August and he added two more in a 4-1 home win in the reverse fixture in February.

"It's a mad game when you come here, it's not like the league season, the pitch is humongous. There was so much action but until the final whistle you have to believe," he said.

"We were still in the game, even at 2-0, as low as we might have felt, and once [Tyler Smith] gets that goal we believed and thankfully managed to get the equaliser and win on penalties."

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'We wouldn't have had it any other way'

While the the ill-fated York game may never be forgotten, Dieseruvwe says the club can now leave it in the past.

"Now that we have got promoted, honestly, I don't think we care what's gone on before," he said. "That feeling [winning at Wembley] is unbelievable. I wish I could bottle it and relive it every day.

"To do it like that, I wouldn't have had it any other way. It's just another [Rochdale] game.

"We're taking the p now at this point. Every single game we leave it so late, but the gaffer keeps pushing us, he tells us to keep believing.

"Somebody said in the dressing room, 'it's the Dale way' - we put our fans through the ringer but [get there] in the end."

It's not his first Wembley goal, nor his first promotion to the EFL but Dieseruvwe insists Sunday's equaliser was the biggest goal of his career, adding: "That's no 1, for sure, for the fans. It was almost an out-of-body experience.

"To take it to extra time, to believe, for the team to keep going... Honestly we have done it the hard way for weeks now."

His boss knows that only too well. Before heading off to the Royal Box to meet his family, McNulty said: "It's a feeling of pure elation and fairly surreal.

"We have character and belief and I've never been part of anything like this.

"The game against York was wild and had everyone's eyes rightfully on it, so to go and do this at Wembley is incredible and amazing.

"I feel like it was destined to end this way. The season itself has been incredible - the points tally, the performances, the guts, the character, the late goals.

"It does feel like some sort of footballing justice was served today."

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• Rochdale
• Football
• National League