ROCHDALE boss Brian Barry-Murphy has spoken of his disappointment after seeing his side exit the FA Cup at the first-round stage at the hands of National League club Stockport County.
Dale were beaten 2-1 by County at the Crown Oil Arena after shipping two early goals.
Speaking to the club’s official website Barry-Murphy said: “It’s a very disappointing result for us in terms of the end result. I thought we played well for periods but Stockport put in a very good performance.”
He added: “The opposition score two quick goals in the first half - the first goal was a brilliant goal and the second goal from our point of view is very disappointing.
“We were pretty relentless in our attacking play, but when the opposition are defending so resolutely with so many numbers so deep in their own half, it can be hard to break down.
“I thought we broke them down on numerous occasions and created great chances but we just couldn’t take them and, as such, we exit this season’s FA Cup at this stage.”
He continued: “I always say to the players that there’s no embarrassment in losing to a club or a team like Stockport.
“We have to do everything that we can to try and beat them but, at the end of the day, we haven’t been able to beat them today. As such, you have to take it on the chin and be man enough to accept that we kept going right to the final whistle.
“Now it’s about understanding why we lost and trying to put it right every week.”
In the league, Rochdale’s unbeaten run ended with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of bottom club Oxford, but despite that Barry-Murphy was full of praise for his players.
He said: “I though we were brilliant. The result is disappointing in the end but I watched our lads in the first 60 minutes and I thought some of our play was as good as we’ve played all season.”