Rochdale kept their League Two play-off hopes firmly alive as Adam Le Fondre fired a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Accrington on Sunday.

Dale, on the back of five successive defeats at Spotland, started slowly and fell behind in the 35th minute when Aswad Thomas hit a long free-kick towards Shaun Walley, who drifted into the box before slipping the ball past goalkeeper James Spencer.

But the turning point came in first-half stoppage time when Rochdale skipper Gary Jones was brought down in the area by Thomas and Le Fondre converted the spot-kick.

Three minutes into the second half the hosts took the lead when David Perkins drove into the penalty before squaring for Jones, who powered home from 10 yards.

Dale's third arrived in the 65th minute, Chris Basham crossing for Le Fondre to head home his second.

And the striker completed his hat-trick in the 83rd minute when he converted Perkins' cross to move Keith Hill's men to within five points of a play-off place with three matches in hand.

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