Early goal derails Dale

ROCHDALE boss Brian BarryMurphy felt the impact of an early Gillingham goal derailed his young side too easily in their 4-1 home defeat by Steve Evans’ side.

Having beaten Wigan 5-0 days earlier, Dale’s confidence was high and they started brightly with Stephen Humphrys going close.

But Rob McKenzie’s ninth minute effort took the wind out of their sails and Gillingham dominated thereafter, John Akinde and Connor Ogilvie adding further goals before the break.

Akinde scored the fourth from the penalty spot in the 47th minute after being brought down by Ethan Brierley, making his Football League debut at the age of 17.

Eoghan O’Connell’s 25-yard drive in the 91st minute offered the home side scant consolation.

Dale boss Barry-Murphy said: “It was a difficult game for us, we had a lot of players missing but we didn’t want to focus on that and it’s not an excuse for us, we just didn’t perform and physically we just didn’t match the intensity of the opponent and that’s always a disappointment for us.

“Their first goal changed everything. A lot of what we focus on is trying to remain calm and confident in the moments when goals go against us and the overall effect Gillingham’s goals had on us today was far too much for us – and as such we didn’t display the clear identity we wanted to and we have shown in our victories previously, and it’s something that’s important to us to evolve and make it better going forward.”