A very youthful Dale side lost 2-0 in a game in which we probably had the majority of the chances without actually testing the opposition keeper.
One first glance at our team sheet, you'd be forgiven for thinking we'd put out a reserve team against our Championship opponents with Bastien Hery probably the only guaranteed starter for the game against Peterboro. We started the game with three lads who've yet to start a game for us including a keeper who by all rights should be starting his six weeks holiday.
We went with Diba, Bennett, Done, Eastham, McGinty, Vincenti, Hery, Cannon, Rose, Camps, Bunney, and it was probably the closest that we've played to a traditional back four in preseason so far. There was a few well known names in the Bolton line up in Jay Spearing, Neil Danns and Jermaine Beckford.
I thought we handled it well against a more direct side than we've played so far. Good football was instrumental in everything that we did, and it was telling that the Bolton fans (who must all live in the Lostock part of Bolton based on their thoughts on Rochdale) were giving it olé after four successive passes.
Hery was at the heart of everything that we did, and despite starting a little deeper than he has done in previous games, he was the stand out performer from both sides. He has a little bit of everything in his game, and given the scouts have finished watching Scott Hogan, it might be the Frenchman that they come flocking to watch next.
But it was the visitors that took the lead. They'd come close a few minutes earlier when a much more impressive looking Sean McGinty messed up to let Beckford have a chance, but it was a good move from Neil Danns who gave the Wanderers the lead.
The second half saw Dale have the majority of the possession, knocking it about well, and this led to a number of chances. The ball seemed to whistle past the post on a number of occasions, but as mentioned above, these chances failed to bring a save out of the Bolton keeper.
Young Callum Camps was forced off with blood pouring from his head, after a stray and unintentional elbow from Bolton's Liam Feeney, much to the delight of Dale boss Keith Hill, who seemed to take great pleasure in Camps' introduction into adult football.
A trialist came on in the second half which was Calvin Andrews as long as you promise not to tell anyone. There were similarities with Chris O'Grady with the way he moved around the pitch, and whilst past records won't suggest twenty goals a season from him, there's something there to look at.
With around ten minutes to go, Bolton doubled their lead with sub Connor Wilkinson, moving, shooting and celebrating with his shirt remaining tucked in throughout. His Mum will be proud.
2-0 might have been harsh on Dale, but there's were bags of positives to be taken from the game. Great football from a young side which showed ten changes from the win over Wigan on Saturday. Hogan may have gone but there's still fantastic strength in depth and by my reckoning, there were at least ten players out there for Dale tonight who were 22 or younger.