Hill so proud of Wembley show
ROCHDALE boss Keith Hill insisted his players had nothing to be embarrassed about following their 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley.
Dale bowed out of the FA Cup after coming up short against their Premier League opponents, with a Fernando Llorente hat-trick, two goals from Heung-Min Son and a late strike from Kyle-Walker Peters condemning them to defeat.
Hill’s men were dreaming of a sensational upset when Stephen Humphrys netted to make it 1-1 in an evenly contested first half, and while his side may have gone on to lose, the Rochdale manager was more than happy with his team’s efforts.
“From my perspective, there is no embarrassment in the scoreline. I’m proud of the players.
“They made mistakes but they’ll be forgiven,” he said.
“We tried to play a game of football instead of trying to protect ourselves.
“The scoreline was probably going to be the same even if we sat deeper, but we took them on and rode our luck.
“We had a rollercoaster of a first half. It could have been 2-1 to us but it could have been 5-1 to Spurs. They were brilliant in the game.
“We celebrated with the fans at the end and why not? A lot of them had paid a lot of money to get there and it was only right they celebrated with the players. The players are disappointed with the result but I’ve reassured them I’m proud of them.”
The match was also marred with controversy due to VAR, with two disallowed goals, a penalty decision and several other incidents all coming thanks to the technology.
While it may have left many fans inside the stadium confused, Hill revealed that he enjoyed taking part in a match with the VAR facility.
“I thought it was superb. The confusion was as exciting as the way we tried to play. I was really excited,” he said.
“It was an education in VAR. I understand it more now and how it works. I feel the referee needs protecting as the decisions that VAR need to be explained to supporters.
“It was explained to me by the fourth official, and I was totally immersed in that first half. It didn’t seem like it lasted 10 minutes to me.
“We have to come up with a way of knowing what’s going on inside the stadium. It’s okay us knowing what is going on, but the supporters need to be used in the process.
“It would be superb and make the game better. Why are we hiding the decisions? If we’re coming up with the correct decisions then don’t hide them.
“We need to take a leaf out of rugby and how they have done it.”
It’s back to League One action and the fight to stave off relegation for Hill and his boys today.
Dale return to the Crown Oil Arena where they entertain Derek Adams’ in-form Plymouth Argyle. The Pilgrims won all five of their games in February and in doing so lifted themselves into the play-off positions.