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Dale march on to Wembley
By Nathan Jackson May 17 2008
Rochdale will be one of the teams in the League 2 Playoff Final after a storming fight back against a Darlington side that had 6 penalties in the game. Darlington lead 2-1 from the first leg and extended that lead with a first half penalty, but two fortunate goals got Rochdale back into it and eventually through to Wembley after a penalty shoot out.

Darlington extended their lead thanks to a controversial penalty in the first half. Keltie put away the penalty but Dagnall equalised following a scramble just before half time. Keltie hit the bar early in the second half but it was Perkins who gained the final goal of the game when his 25 yarder took a heavy deflection over Stockport.

The game went to penalties and it was 4-4 going into the final kicks. Kennedy stepped up but Lee saved his effort before Muirhead sealed Rochdale's place at Wembley.

It ended a Darlington season that reflected City's. They were comfortably heading towards automatic promotion and their fans certainly let you know about it. However, a bad run saw them have to settle for the Playoffs despite never having been outside of the Top 6 all season.

Rochdale will now meet either Stockport or Wycombe in the final (unless you believe Sky when they say that it's between Stockport and Barnet)

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