Storm in a teacup!

GRAEME Souness has thrown the odd teacup down the years during his managerial career.

Last night at Spotland the china may have remained intact, but the fiery Scot was quietly seething after a lackadaisical display left his troops red-faced against lowly Rochdale.

Long before Tony Ellis's last minute equaliser, Souness had worn a look of agitation as a reshaped Rovers side made heavy weather of seeing off Steve Parkin's plucky Third Division battlers. And, though he refrained from throwing a wobbler in the dressing room after the final whistle, the message was loud and clear -- underachieving may be one thing but failing to match teams in terms of spirit and desire has no place in the Souness philosophy, whatever is at stake.

Souness chose to rest the likes of Damien Duff, Stig Inge Bjornebye, Craig Short and Christian Dailly in a bid to give some of his fringe players a chance.

And those replacements struggled to contain a Dale side who romped around Spotland with the passion and vigor of a pack of randy teenagers.

Former North End man Ellis and his strike partner Clive Platt gave Martin Taylor and Marlon Broomes a torrid time at the back.

And in a pulsating finale, it was no surprise when Ellis popped up at the back post to nod home the equaliser in the second minute of injury time to send the home fans into ecstacy.

As one radio commentator so eloquently put it before kick-off, Dale have been entrenched in the bottom division of English football for as long as Ken Barlow has been in Coronation Street.

But, to a man, they played out of their skins, managing to raise their games in an effort which belied their lowly league status.

And no-one could deny them their equaliser -- even if it only arrived a couple of seconds before the final whistle.

Worrying for Rovers fans was the lack of conviction in the final third.

Once again, Souness's men carved out the better openings but all they had to show for their efforts was a solitary strike from Nathan Blake. Otherwise, Blake and Matt Jansen were a bit hit and miss upfront which could see new signing Kaba Diawara -- who was watching from his seat in the stand -- thrust straight into action against Norwich on Saturday.

Against better opposition Rovers will have to be more clinical otherwise they will struggle to turn their promotion dreams into reality.

Sporting their sleek new away strip, the visitors zipped the ball about with confidence in the first half but, for all their possession, Rovers failed to make their territorial advantage count.

Jansen warmed keeper Neil Edwards' hands with a stinging drive following a smart piece of trickery inside the box.

Then the pint-sized keeper denied Blake twice in the space of a minute, palming his header around a post before blocking another effort at the near post.

But it was far from one-way traffic and Dale grew in confidence and belief the longer the game wore on.

Ever-green midfielder Tony Ford -- English football's oldest player at the ripe old age of 41 -- conjured up two great openings for dangerman Ellis.

But the striker -- himself a veteran these days -- ballooned his first effort into the crowd with the goal at his mercy then sent a free header agonisingly wide of the far post.

That, no doubt, provided the stimulus for Souness's half time team-talk but Rovers failed to heed the message as only a last-ditch interception from Broomes denied Ellis the simplest of tap-ins.

However, the visitors slowly started to turn up the heat and, after a Keith Gillespie effort had been headed off the line, they finally made the breakthrough on 59 minutes.

Jansen was the orchestrator, slipping a perfectly weighted ball through to Blake down the left channel, and the Welsh international raced clear to clip a delightful effort over the advancing Edwards.

A slick move involving Jansen and McAteer nearly carved out a second but Garry Flitcroft's effort drifted just wide of the far post.

But, just as Rovers looked to have cracked Dale's spirit, they suddenly dug deep and summoned up the energy for a late onslaught.

Ellis fired a warning with three great chances, the best of which was a smart turn and shot which struck the outside of a post.

Then, in a grandstand finish, substitute Gary Jones let fly from 20 yards, John Filan got his hands to it but Ford pounced on the loose ball, chipping an inch-perfect cross to the back post for Ellis to head home.