A third consecutive defeat saw Dale exit the Papa John's Trophy at the group stage. Dale were beaten 2-1 despite going ahead.

In a game where us avoiding defeat would see us get out of the group stage and into the knockout stages, we inevitably lost. 2-1 against a hard working Salford side. Can’t argue with the result.

Dale started with Jay Lynch in goal, a back 4 of Keohane, O’Connell, McNulty, Done, a midfield 3 of Brierley, Hopper and Rathbone with Tavares and Dooley either side of Beesley. Interestingly, despite O’Connell being on the pitch, Ollie Rathbone was the captain for the Evening.

Just the 6 changes from the weekend for Dale, while Salford made 10 changes from their game at the weekend.

Salford started brighter but against the run of play, Beesley got his first goal for the club! Delighted for him as he delightfully brought down a long diagonal pass by McNulty and slotted passed the goalkeeper. He’s missed a couple of chances in previous games, but there can’t be a Dale fan out there who isn’t buzzing for him and he definitely deserves that!

Salford continued to edge the game and came close with 2 smartly taken free kicks which went just wide. 20 minutes in and Salford were the miles better side, playing most of the football with Dale penned in for the majority of that time.

Then approaching the half hour mark Lynch was called into action, making 2 decent but expected saves and Salford were turning the screw as Dale struggled to get out, for a mixture of reasons; McNulty poor passing, Tavares poor ball control, Beesley not holding the ball like we’re used to seeing and some good pressure from Salford.

HT Rochdale 1-0 Salford: a poor half from Dale really. We couldn’t keep hold of the ball and there were a lot of aimless long balls forward from Lynch and McNulty, giving Beesley no chance at points. Nice to be a goal ahead having not played well, though.

There were no changes at half time.

Dale started much brighter in the second half and had a great chance after some nice play down the left hand side saw a Rathbone cross met by Keohane who had a volley saved.

Despite that good start, Salford soon carried on their first half performance with a couple of good opportunities wasted by Andrade, who also hit the bar in the first 45.

It was Andrade who equalised on 52 minutes as his free kick was hit over the wall and into the corner, leaving Lynch unmoved. It was a poor free kick to give away in the first place, especially after a couple of sighters in the first half.

Dale made their first changes after 64 minutes, with Morley and Baah coming on for Hopper and Tavares.

Salford should’ve scored and took the lead on 74 minutes after a poor touch (or lack of) from Rathbone led to a pass out wide and a cross into Dieseruvwe, who headed straight at Lynch.

A couple of minutes later, Rathbone had a chance after some great play down the left as he took 2 of their players on and curled an effort just wide of the target.

Salford got a penalty after a mix up in the area from a corner. Not too sure what happened, Beesley, McNulty and O’Connell were all close to it and there weren’t any arguments really. Dieseruvwe scored as he slotted down the middle.

Dale were behind with 10 minutes left, as Brierly came off for Joe Dunne, who slotted into Left Back and Done moved further forward.

Dale almost equalised after a superb run from
Baah down the left saw him cut inside very well but dragged his shot into the side netting, we’ve missed his pace and power.

Dale huffed and puffed but were dreadful on the night and deservedly out of the competition.

A week and a half to prepare for the next league game where we need a reaction after the last week.

Player Ratings:

Lynch - 5. Kicking was aimless in the first half, but couldn’t do anything with the goals.

Keohane - 6. Didn’t do anything wrong but didn’t put in the type of performance we’re used to this season.

O’Connell - 6. Can’t imagine him ever getting a score less than 6 really. Didn’t do much wrong.

McNulty - 4. Very poor again. Set up the goal, but a lot of aimless, wayward balls forward throughout.

Done - 6. Didn’t do too much wrong, but didn’t do anything spectacular either.

Brierley - 6. A bright spark. Picked up some nice positions and kept the ball well.

Hopper - 5. Normally stands out a bit more to me, but didn’t have any impact on the game at all.

Rathbone - 6. Worked hard and made some decent runs. Didn’t have too much of an impact on the game though.

Tavares - 4. Poor. Ball control left a lot to be desired and showed some pointless step overs.

Dooley - 5. Poor out wide but tried to get on the ball coming deep into midfield. Didn’t do enough.

Beesley - 5. Feel harsh with this one, got his goal but his hold up play wasn’t where it has been. Can’t expect much more though given the service and players around him.

Subs:

Baah - 6. God I’ve missed him, but didn’t do much tonight. Showed some decent touches and his usual runs down the left and cutting inside.

Morley - 6. Came on and played some decent diagonal balls and kept the ball reasonably well.

Dunne - 5. Didn’t do much, aside from quite a nice run, Haydon Roberts-Esque.

Photo: Action Images

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