Jim McNulty ‘devastated’ as Rochdale relegated after defeat to Stockport

Interim Rochdale boss Jim McNulty was “devastated” after his team were relegated following a 1-0 defeat at Stockport.

Dale’s 102-year stay in the Football League came to a predictable end after another dismal performance, with Isaac Olaofe scoring the only goal.

McNulty said: “First and foremost I’m absolutely devasted.

“I just feel so sorry for the fans because I know all about the long history of this club and to be going out of the league after more than 100 years is devastating.

“It’s been a long, horrible season and at this moment I’m just really hurting, as we all are.

“I can totally understand the fans’ anger and frustration but it’s been on the cards.

“To be honest the fans were amazing, even though we showed very little as a team, particularly in the first half.

“I was fuming at half-time and I told the players. It just wasn’t acceptable. From a confidence and a courage perspective, it just wasn’t there.

“We rallied a bit in the second half but it was just a rally of confidence. We didn’t threaten or hurt Stockport.

“The football club as a whole needs to be accountable for this. Too many things have gone wrong this season and this is the result.”

Stockport dominated the opening 45 minutes but didn’t score what turned out to be the winner until the final kick before the interval.

Olaofe broke the deadlock in style, dancing past two challenges before drilling home clinically from 15 yards.

The second half proved to be something of a non-event, with Stockport bossing possession again and Rochdale never looking like grabbing an equaliser.

County, who extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches, are now just a single point shy of the automatic promotion places.

Boss Dave Challinor said: “It’s three points and that’s about it.

“It wasn’t a great performance, though we got off to a brilliant start.

“The game got a bit stretched and we were a bit sloppy at times, the simple passes were going astray too often.

“It was a frustrating performance but it was 1-0 to us and that’s the only important factor.

“We’ve just got to win our last two games now if we’re to give ourselves a chance of getting automatic promotion.

“That’ll be a tough ask, especially away against the champions [Leyton Orient] next weekend.

“We’ve got that experience you need, though.

“There was a lot more pressure on us to go up last year but we got through that and that was amazing.

“We’ve just got to deal with things over these next two games and see where it takes us.

“We’ve got good options in the squad despite having a few injuries and we’re still in a great, great situation. We have to embrace that now.”