Rochdale extended their lead in the third and final automatic promotion spot to four points with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Oxford United this afternoon, with Scott Hogan netting a hat-trick.
Midway through the first half, Johnny Mullins wasted two glorious opportunities to give Oxford the lead. The defender latched onto Michael Raynes's flick on and saw his first effort pushed away by Josh Lillis, but the 28-year-old skewed the follow-up wide with the goal gaping.
Matt Done came close to giving Rochdale the advantage in the 40th minute when his goal-bound strike was blocked on the line before striking both the bar and the post on its way out for a corner.
Oxford's luck ran out on the stroke of half time, though, when Hogan bundled the ball over the line from close range after Peter Vincenti's header was blocked.
Five minutes after the break, Hogan grabbed his second goal of the afternoon.
The 21-year-old raced past the Oxford defence as he burst through the centre of the pitch, and while his first shot was saved, the youngster followed it up to tap home from close range.
Eleven minutes later, Hogan's hat-trick was complete. The forward, who was brimming with confidence, had his back to goal, but sent a back-heel beyond the reach of Ryan Clarke to notch his 19th goal of the season.
Done almost made it 4-0 shortly afterwards, but Clarke did well to tip his shot away.
Kristian Johnson
