STANLEY boss John Coleman slammed his side after they fell closer to the relegation zone following a lacklustre defeat at local rivals Rochdale.

The Reds never got out of the starting blocks in what was one of their biggest games of the season and were 3-0 down by half-time - and it could have been a lot worse.

Left winger Adam Rundle stroked the first into an open goal after good build-up from Ben Muirhead on 15 minutes.

One-time Stanley target Glenn Murray had an easy header for No 2 five minutes later and Murray tapped home from four yards out to make it three on 32 minutes as Stanley's defence went AWOL.

Stanley keeper Premyslaw Kazimierczak saved a Murray penalty as it could have been four by half time.

Paul Mullin got one back after the break but Rochdale extended their lead with a Adam Le Fondre spot kick. And Andy Mangan gave the score some respectability at the death but Coleman was furious.

"I am devastated. I have never seen us play that badly in the first half in the eight years I have been here and my 10 years as manager - a team like mine hasn't played like that.

"We looked like we had no idea about football or defending. It was shambolic."

Full report in this week's Observer