Positives for Dale despite defeat
ROCHDALE came up short in their latest pre-season friendly on Tuesday after they were beaten at home by Championship side Barnsley.
Two second half goals from Ike Ugbo helped the visitors come out on top in the match at the Crown Oil Arena.
Despite the loss, there were plenty of positives for Rochdale to take from the game, with Keith Hill’s side making a number of opportunities throughout the 90 minutes.
Barnsley had the first chance of the match in the opening stages when Lloyd Isgrove hit an effort wide.
At the other end, summer signing Brad Inman had Dale’s first effort on goal when he forced a save out of Barnsley goalkeeper Nick Townsend.
The match was an end to end affair as the first half progressed, with Barnsley again threatening moments later when Josh Lillis was called into action after Zecki Fryers got on the end of Adam Hammill’s free-kick into the box.
Ian Henderson then nearly capitalised on a mistake from the Barnsley defence when he crossed for Calvin Andrew, but Townsend got down well to keep out the striker’s effort.
Callum Camps then had the best chance of the half for Rochdale when he fired a long range shot at goal, but Townsend produced a good save to keep the match goalless.
The home side appeared to be the better side as the first half progressed, with Inman again going close before Ian Henderson was denied by Townsend.
Henderson was played in again moments later when he received the ball from Jamie Allen, but Barnsley defender Liam Lindsay made a good last ditch tackle to stop him getting his shot away.
Andrew then had the final chance of the half when his shot from distance went inches wide, but the teams remained all square at the interval.
Hill’s side thought they had taken the lead at the start of the second half when they had the ball in the net through Andrew, but he was judged to be offside by the linesman.
Dale had a trialist in their side, and he almost got on the scoresheet when he struck narrowly wide of the goal.
Hill made changes as the game approached the hour mark, bringing on the likes of Andy Cannon and Jim McNulty.
Despite the changes, Rochdale still couldn’t make the breakthrough and they were made to pay for their missed opportunities when Barnsley went ahead on 68 minutes.
Isgrove’s ball into the box was met by Bradshaw, with his header forcing a good save out of Lillis.
The Rochdale stopper couldn’t keep hold of the ball though, and that allowed Ugbo to tap home from close range and make it 1-0 to the away side.
‘Despite the changes Rochdale still couldn’t make the breakthrough and they were made to pay for their missed opportunities’
Dale tried to immediately hit back as Inman and then Henderson each
had chances, but neither of them could find the net.
Another Rochdale substitution then followed, as 15-year-old Daniel Adshead came onto the pitch to replace Inman.
The hosts searched in vain for an equaliser, but in the end it wasn’t to be as Barnsley put the match beyond doubt when they doubled their lead late on.
Ugbo was the man to get it once again, slotting the ball into the bottom corner of the net after going one on one with Lillis.
That’s how the match ended, with Rochdale coming up short and suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to their Championship rivals.
Rochdale have one more pre-season friendly to contend with before their League One season starts against Portsmouth next weekend, with Hill’s side travelling to the Globe Arena today to take on Morecambe.