Early exit for Dale kids in Youth Cup

ROCHDALE under-18s bowed out of the FA Youth Cup on Tuesday, following a 1-0 defeat away at a stubborn Accrington Stanley in the first round of the competition.

Joshua Hamami’s strike early in the first half proved to be the only goal of the game at the Wham Stadium.

“It’s disappointing to go out,” lead coach Chris Brown told the club’s official website.

“Our overall quality in the game was poor, and we didn’t commit to scoring or forcing chances.

“Accrington were very hard to break down and they sat in and made it very difficult for us. They’ve countered and

Our overall quality was poor, and we didn’t commit to scoring’

scored a goal, which rocked us a little bit.

“We did create some good opportunities, particularly in the second half, but not enough. The ball was always going through to their goalkeeper who had strong game in their air, and we didn’t really work it out and learn why we weren’t scoring.

“The performance was very unlike the lads in terms of the way we were attacking and our mind set and mentality from the start of the game, which in recent weeks has been very, very good. We played Accrington 10 days ago and we were excellent on a very difficult pitch, beating them 5-2.

“We were quite negative and naïve in our goal threat and decision making tonight, so Accrington have gone through and done well after sticking to their game plan. We’ve not done enough in the 90 minutes to win the game.”

Dale travel to Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Youth Alliance Cup on today and Chris Brown hopes the side will get back to performing to the levels they are capable of.

“Preparation for the weekend’s game will be more of a psychological one rather than a physical one.” added Brown.