Brian Barry-Murphy proud as Rochdale fight back for a point

Posted Sunday, April 25, 2021 by PA

Rochdale boss Brian Barry-Murphy says he was proud of his players after they made the most of lengthy stoppage time to fight back for a point at Crewe.

Matt Done grabbed an equaliser in the sixth minute of added time after Dale fell behind in the last minute to Charlie Kirk’s follow-up when his penalty was saved by Jay Lynch.

It was no more than Barry-Murphy’s side deserved, but it made little difference to their plight at the bottom of the table and, five points adrift of safety, they will need to win their six-pointer with AFC Wimbledon next Tuesday.

They lacked a cutting edge to do so at Gresty Road, although according to Barry-Murphy they were frustrated by a poor refereeing performance from match official Andy Haines.

Barry-Murphy said: “We controlled the game for long periods and we should have been in front by half-time. But the longer it went on it drifted and there were a lot of stoppages, it became very fractured and the referee didn’t manage it well.

“It became frustrating, but the lads kept on trying right to the end.

“We had a penalty given against us by the same referee which was overturned; This one wasn’t overturned. Andy Haines is a very good guy, but his performance today was hopeless.

“The accumulation of fouls by Crewe in the first half was huge and the theory they were not serious enough to warrant yellow cards meant they kept doing it.

“It will never be straightforward, but it was really satisfying for us to see us go right to the end, and the players will keep going right to the last whistle of the season.

“You could see their response to the penalty – and it wasn’t a penalty, the player (Kirk) dived. They got on the front foot and we had chances after that. Then the skill to produce the goal from Conor Shaughnessy and the finish from Matt Done was something to be very proud of.”

Rochdale had the better chances to break the first-half stalemate with Ollie Rathbone going close with a downward header from Aaron Morley’s corner, while Jimmy Keohane may have done better when he headed a Ryan McLaughlin cross over from close range.

But they needed two fine saves from Lynch to thwart Antony Evans and Kirk before the late drama.

Kirk appeared fortunate to get his award after going down as Aaron Morley stretched out a leg. The attacker followed up to finish after Lynch saved, but it was not to prove the winner as Shaughnessy’s slide-rule pass found Done clear on the left for a strike into the far corner.

Crewe boss Dave Artell admitted: “We snatched a draw from the arms of victory. It was a poor game and I thought neither side deserved to win. For all the play Rochdale had they only created one or two chances.

“We weren’t good enough and it was a tough watch. We were trying little things and asking different things from them, like playing three at the back again. We changed shape at half-time, but it wasn’t very good until the last 20 minutes.

“We didn’t do anything near well enough when were we were in possession.”